WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON

Moms Clean Air Force has been working to ensure the strongest possible standards for air pollution since its inception. In August 2023, EPA announced that they would initiate a new review of the smog (a.k.a. ozone pollution) rule, instead of using their authority to adopt a more health-protective standard now. This delay will put the health of millions at risk for years to come. This is unacceptable, and Moms are raising our voices for immediate action.

Take Action

MOMS ACTION

To actively build support for strengthening smog protections across the country, we:

EDUCATE Moms organizers host in-person and virtual events about smog pollution in states across the country. Our Ozone Pollution 101 fact sheet explains the basics of why smog occurs, how it can impact health, and which communities are most impacted.
PETITION Our members submitted more than 6,000 letters to EPA calling for them to take immediate action on ozone between August 2023 and May 2024.
PARTNER Moms partners with the Climate Action Campaign and the National Ambient Air Quality Coalition to strengthen smog protections.
AMPLIFY We’ve placed dozens of articles about smog in regional and national media outlets, from the Colorado Sun and Houston Chronicle to CBS News, since 2021.
SUCCEED Thanks in part to dozens of Moms’ oral testimonies and tens of thousands of written comments, EPA tackled smog pollution in 2024 with stronger tailpipe pollution standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles and new rules to slash carbon pollution from power plants.

OUR SMOG EXPERTS

Elizabeth Bechard

Senior Policy Analyst

Melody Reis

Senior Legislative and Regulatory Policy Manager

Almeta E. Cooper

National Manager for Health Equity

FEATURED RESOURCES

Fact Sheet

Ozone Pollution 101

Article

EPA Continues to Leave Millions Unprotected From Smog

Press Statement

Moms thank EPA for acting on smog by finalizing Good Neighbor Rule

WHY WE CARE

Smog is harmful to breathe. It can appear as a yellow haze in the sky above polluted areas. Smog is formed in the atmosphere when certain chemicals combine with heat and sunlight. Power plants, fracking, cars and trucks, and diesel engines can all be sources of smog-forming chemicals. Smog can travel hundreds of miles from the pollution source, and it can be made worse by weather and geography.

HEALTH IMPACTS

Smog is highly irritating to the lungs. It triggers asthma attacks and increases the risk of lung infections. Smog can interfere with normal lung development. Smog causes coughing, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Breathing elevated levels of smog is like getting sunburn on the lungs.

Smog is harmful to breathe.
It is highly irritating to the lungs.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

While smog is a threat to everyone, the impacts are not felt equally. Communities of color and low-income communities face the greatest risk because they are hit first and worst. This inequitable system is not a coincidence. Systemic racism has created practices that force minority families to live in places that are more susceptible to smog and sources of smog. Black communities with greater exposure to air pollution have higher than average childhood asthma rates. Smog is especially harmful for these children.

BACK STORY

EPA regulates smog, or ground-level ozone, directly under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or NAAQS (rhymes with “snacks”). These standards are supposed to be updated every five years. Moms was there in 2015 and again in 2020, asking EPA for the most stringent standards. The Trump administration failed to strengthen smog protections in 2020, which makes it even more important for EPA to set the strongest possible standards no later than 2025.

In addition to pushing EPA to set strong national ozone standards, we worked in 2022 and 2023 on EPA’s Cross State Air Pollution Rule, also known as the Good Neighbor Plan, which aims to reduce harmful air pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities that drifts across state borders and harms residents of downwind states. This important rule, which will help clean up smog, or ground-level ozone, by requiring that major polluters install and use pollution control devices, was finalized in March 2023.

Join us in your state to work to keep the air cleaner and fight climate change. Moms in Colorado are particularly active on state smog policy.