While many of us were preparing for a Thanksgiving week spent with family, EPA moved late last Monday night to outright abandon vital protections from soot pollution, a.k.a. particle pollution or PM 2.5. The agency issued a court filing asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to strike down stronger soot protections finalized in 2024, claiming the Biden EPA “didn’t follow” congressionally mandated procedure when making the rule.
The move is unprecedented and a devastating blow to public health. Soot is one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. It cuts short the lives of well over 100,000 people per year. This is because it is so tiny it can enter our lungs and bloodstreams and move into our hearts and brains to wreak havoc. It can affect our health in many ways, from lung infections to impaired immune health to metabolic disorders and more.
Tell Congress: Defend EPA’s Ability to Protect Human Health and the Environment
“EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s move will mean more lung cancers, more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, more premature births—more families hit with the stress and trauma of illness. This is the opposite of Make America Healthy Again!” says Moms’ Director and Co-founder Dominique Browning in response to the shocking news.
Soot pollution can come from a wide variety of sources. One of the largest is the burning of fossil fuels by coal-fired power plants, industrial facilities, and combustion engines. The 2024 soot rule EPA has incongruously abandoned tightened the standards for these sources from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9. This may not seem like huge jump, but experts expected the Biden-era protections to save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in families’ health expenses.
“Why did the U.S. decide that going to war against clean air was a good idea? Why did EPA decide to declare war on the American people?” asks Dominique. At Moms Clean Air Force, we’ll continue to call for the strongest possible protections against deadly pollution like soot.
Tell Congress: Defend EPA’s Ability to Protect Human Health and the Environment