“What’s in the Air” is a column by Dominique Browning, Moms Clean Air Force Co-Founder and Director, in which she explores life today through the lens of air quality and public health.
Wind blows pollution across the country and doesn’t stop at state lines. This is exactly why we need EPA’s Good Neighbor Rule—a rule that protects downwind states from the air pollution being released by power plants and other industrial sources located in upwind neighboring states.
But today the Supreme Court issued a ruling to pause implementation of the Good Neighbor Rule.
Tell Your Governor: Our Families Deserve Clean Air
What’s so frustrating is that this rule is working. All polluters have to do is turn on pollution controls. During these hot summer months, that intensify air pollution, these pollution protections couldn’t be more important.
Common sense, right?
But not these days. Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana—and industry allies—put an emergency petition before the Supreme Court to stop the Good Neighbor Rule. And the Court took up the case.
Today’s ruling is maddening. It sets the clock back for all downwind states and gives upwind polluters the right to keep polluting their neighbors.
Many children are taught the Golden Rule: “Do unto others what you would want others to do unto you.” But none of us want our children breathing dirty air—and it’s egregious for polluters not to be held accountable for pollution that travels and affects others. This is the ultimate form of secondhand smoke, and it isn’t fair.
This Supreme Court is out of control in its fight to dismantle the responsibilities of EPA and other agencies that are doing the job of protecting people from the industrial behemoths that are making billions of dollars as we spend billions on hospital visits. Moms are outraged.
Tell your governor to do something. Downwind states must keep fighting for their right to clean air and protection from neighboring polluters.
And remember: the only way to stop things getting worse is to VOTE this November to protect our air, our children, and our world.