Today, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the finalization of new protections for soot pollution, also known as particle pollution or PM 2.5. The new protections strengthen the current standard from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter—a significant improvement that will save lives, prevent asthma attacks, and avoid numerous other health harms.
This is an important step toward cleaner, healthier air for all children. Soot pollution is a killer. In the United States alone, it cuts short the lives of well over 100,000 people per year—a staggering toll–and children’s bodies are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts.
Black, Brown, and low-income families are disproportionately affected by soot pollution. As our Director and Co-Founder, Dominique Browning, writes in a statement: “Right now, people of color are consistently exposed to higher levels of particle pollution from sources like power plants, industrial facilities, and heavily trafficked roads, and they are more than six times more likely to visit the emergency room for asthma-related issues. Black children are more than seven times more likely to die from asthma than white children.”
The new protections, as Regan noted in his remarks today, will have a “life-changing and profound impact … in communities all across the country.”
But we can’t afford to stop here. EPA is expected to release updated protections for pollution from vehicles, power plants, and other sources in the coming months, and Moms won’t rest until our leaders have done everything they can to protect the air our kids breathe. Dominique writes: “So much is at stake for our children, our communities, and our collective future. Members of Moms Clean Air Force will continue to demand that every one of these critical EPA protections gets across the finish line. We have absolutely no time to lose.”