We can’t go backward on clean air

Many of us, our children, or someone we know and love struggles with breathing because of asthma or other respiratory problems. Few health problems cause the immediate anxiety of not being able to get one’s breath. With so many issues grabbing our attention, we may have missed the recent news that the Environmental Protection Agency has rolled back critical environmental regulations that support cleaner air and healthy lives.

On Feb. 12, the EPA revoked its 2009 “endangerment finding,” a determination that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane pose a threat to public health and welfare. This finding was established after a 2007 Supreme Court decision confirmed that greenhouse gases qualify as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. For more than a decade, it has served as the legal and scientific foundation for federal action on climate change.

No one wants our air quality to return to the poor and dangerous air quality before the 1970s. The EPA says on its website, “Between 1970 and 2020, the combined emissions of the six common pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10, SO2, NOx, VOCs, CO and Pb) dropped by 78%. This progress occurred while U.S. economic indicators remain strong.”

This has never been only a Democrat or Republican issue. It involves all people and all of life. Let all our politicians know we want to move forward not backward. We all have this power to bring change: Take a deep breath of fresh air and tell your representative “Let’s go forward, not backward on clean air.”

Allen Mothershed

Wheaton