This was written by Moms’ Wisconsin Field Organizer, Jayne Black.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, EPA has proposed an update to pollution protections from nitrogen oxides (NOx) from new gas-fired power plants. This proposal is long overdue.
In a time of escalating threats to children’s health, standards that protect the air our children breathe are more important than ever. NOx pollution threatens children’s developing lungs and has been linked to asthma, respiratory infections, and increased hospital visits. It can even exacerbate symptoms of diseases like multiple sclerosis—a disease my daughter lives with every day.
Tell EPA: Protect Families From Harmful NOx Pollution
As the mother of an adult daughter with multiple sclerosis, I’ve learned that NOx is one of the most dangerous types of air pollution to people with this disease.
Every day, my daughter struggles to do the things we take for granted, like getting out of bed, cleaning her home, and taking a walk—and these struggles can be compounded on poor air quality days. When she ventures outside her home, she has to wear a mask and carry an air quality monitor to ensure the air she’s breathing is healthy.
Not only can direct exposure to NOx in the air we breathe cause health harm to people like my daughter, people with asthma, people with lung or heart diseases, and pregnant people, but this harmful pollutant can also react with other chemicals to form particle pollution (or soot) and ozone pollution (or smog).
Particle pollution and ozone contribute to their own dizzying array of public health problems, from asthma and disrupted lung development to low birth weight and preterm birth.
Communities of color that have been historically marginalized are among those most impacted by this pollution, making this proposed standard an important step toward environmental justice.
Our families and communities deserve strong protections from health-harming pollution. Join Moms in telling EPA to finalize the most protective NOx rule possible.