This spring, the Trump administration told 500-plus corporate polluters, including power plants, chemical manufacturers, sterilizers, and other facilities, to email the president for a free pass to ignore longstanding environmental and health protections and release toxic or hazardous pollutants into the air we breathe. This is not fake news. It actually happened.
Tell EPA: Moms Strongly Oppose Rolling Back Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
Now, an interactive map from a coalition of health, community, and environmental groups, including Moms Clean Air Force and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), shows exactly where these facilities are located, whether they have requested the free pass pollution exemption, and whether that exemption has been granted.
Worried about the free pass for polluters? Anyone can use the map to input their home address to see which facilities are near them. The map includes information about how many people live near the polluting facilities, how close they are to public schools, and which congressional district they are in.
So far, according to EDF, Trump has granted exemptions to 53 petrochemical facilities, 71 coal-fired power plants, 8 taconite iron ore processing plants, and 39 medical sterilizers. These facilities are currently covered by nine different clean air standards that protect people from pollution that can cause asthma attacks, brain damage in young children, cancer, severe heart and lung disease, and death.
These exemptions “put millions of people in harm’s way. They would increase cancer risk and mean more suffering for people—children and adults—in communities across the country,” says Vickie Patton, EDF’s General Counsel.
Moms’ Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning adds, “Let’s call this what it is: A travesty. It is astonishing to see a president and EPA administrator offer polluters speedy permission to spew toxic pollutants that will hurt children and families for generations. These hazardous air pollutants damage every organ in our bodies. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. Millions of mothers have an email for Lee Zeldin: ‘Exempt yourself from your position, ASAP. Your job is not to Make America Sick Again.’ Hitting Send!”
Tell EPA: Moms Strongly Oppose Rolling Back Mercury and Air Toxics Standards