It's our best chance for help

[Guest guest]

Since I began this journey to try and understand how dangerous exposure to toxic levels of mold has been for me and for so many others across this country, it didn't take long to determine that the only way we have a chance of stopping it is with legislative intervention.  IT IS THE ONLY WAY.  We have to look at this issue in similar ways to the past cover ups of the tobacco industry and exposure to lead paint and asbestos.  The powers that be won't help us out of the goodness of their own hearts unless they are forced to help. 

Below, please find Senator Kerry's position paper on Health and the Environment.  Many of us are absolutely off the wall with hope that we have a chance of powerful help in the near future on this issue that has harmed so many people.  HE ACTUALLY ADDRESSES THE ISSUE OF MOLD EXPOSURE! 

The only way we can even begin to get a handle on the problem is to have someone on our side in the highest and most visible place acknowledging the problem and working with us to reach a solution.  Kerry's position on addressing Indoor Air Quality is a beginning; something we clearly don't have right now in this country.

If you want change, assistance, proper medical attention and treatment, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR COUNTRY'S LEADERSHIP IS EITHER GOING TO HELP US OR IGNORE US.  We are being ignored now.         

Mulvey son

Kerry's Plan to Reduce Asthma by Ensuring Clean Air

Will Reverse Bush Clean Air Rollbacks, Improve Indoor Air Quality, Make Sure Corporate Farms Abide by the Clean Air Act, and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Even before the Bush Administration began to roll back important air pollution requirements, air pollution was taking a serious toll on the health of our most vulnerable citizens.  Asthma affects more than 200,000 Iowans each year, including 40,000 children. As asthma rates soar - doubling over just the last ten years - there is disturbing new evidence linking ozone and small particles in the air to serious health risks, including premature death, heart disease, cancer, and lung damage.  These risks are most severe for children: air pollution has been linked to a host of pediatric health problems, including asthma attacks, slowed neurological growth, and stunted lung development.

The Bush Administration's rollback of standards for modified power plants and industries - proposed at the behest of his friends in the utility industry - will double the amount of particulates - including toxic metals like mercury -in the next 20 years. Power plant pollution causes 5,490 asthma attacks in Iowa every year. Even the Bush Administration's own report shows that reducing air pollution to improve public heath is a good investment.  The study revealed that every dollar invested in controlling air pollution from 1992 to 2002 generated five to eight dollars ($120 to $193 billion dollars in total) in reduced costs for hospitalization and emergency room visits, premature deaths, and lost workdays.

Kerry has a plan to reduce asthma by improving air quality - both indoors and outdoors. His plan will: (1) immediately reverse the Clean Air Act rollbacks and step up enforcement; (2) make sure Clean Air Act rules apply and are enforced in the agricultural industry; (3) take new steps to improve indoor air quality; and (4) reduce greenhouse gas emissions that harm the environment and public health.

I. IMMEDIATELY REVERSE THE BUSH-CHENEY CLEAN AIR ROLLBACKS. Kerry will immediately reverse the Bush-Cheney rollbacks of the Clean Air Act and take additional steps to protect the health of our seniors and children. The Bush Administration's air pollution plan will lead to an additional 100,000 premature deaths and two million asthma attacks through 2020 in the U.S. compared to stronger proposals.

Ø      Plug Loopholes and Vigorously Enforce the Law To Prevent Tens of Thousands of Asthma Attacks. The new source review (NSR) program in the Clean Air Act was designed to assure that power plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities install state-of-the-art emission controls when they are modernized.  At the direction of industry lobbyists, the Bush-Cheney Administration adopted new Clean Air Act rules to allow plants to invest millions of dollars in new equipment with the potential to increase pollution without notifying EPA or installing any additional emissions controls.  The Bush-Cheney Administration has also turned a blind eye to the many outstanding past violations of NSR.  A report found that installing modern pollution controls at 51 plants cited for air-emission violations would each year save more than 4,300 lives and prevent 80,000 asthma attacks. A federal appeals court temporary blocked the Bush Administration's actions. If the Bush-Cheney rollbacks are permitted to move forward, Kerry will immediately repeal them upon taking office.

 

Ø      Take Aggressive Action to Meet Ozone and Particulate Air Quality Standards, Stop Acid Rain, and Reduce Mercury Emissions. Breathing high concentrations of particulate matter can damage lung tissue and contribute to cancer and respiratory disease. Mercury emissions from utilities pose yet another threat to public health as more than 60,000 U.S. kids are born each year with a risk of nervous system damage from mercury exposure in the womb. During the Clinton Administration, the nation's air quality standards for ozone and soot were strengthened, but the new standards have not yet been realized.  Numerous regions of the country have unhealthy air as defined by the new standards and many have still not achieved the air quality improvements necessary to meet the old standards.  The Bush-Cheney Administration has failed to use its existing authority to require the necessary pollutant reductions to meet the ozone and soot standards.  Instead, the Administration has proposed the misnamed "Clear Skies Act," which would actually weaken the Clean Air Act by setting higher limits on mercury emissions than under existing law. 

o       Cap On Toxic Emissions From Industrial Sources That Exacerbate Asthma and Other Respiratory Illnesses. Kerry will move aggressively to meet ozone and particulate air quality standards and address acid rain by proposing a hard "cap" on overall nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions from large industrial sources.  Kerry will establish a compliance deadline that is significantly more ambitious than Bush's so-called "Clear Skies" program. 

o       Reduce Emissions That Exacerbate Asthma and Other Respiratory Illnesses Through Trading System. Kerry will propose a trading system to allow for cost-effective and early achievement of emissions reductions, but it will limit trading in the vicinity of national parks and recreation areas to protect those sensitive airsheds.  The program also will achieve deep reductions in utility mercury emissions by requiring plants to install the latest advances in mercury control technology.

II. ASSURE CLEAN AIR ACT REGULATIONS APPLY TO THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY. A new University of Iowa study found that children who live on hog farms have a much higher incidence of asthma than those who live elsewhere. The Clinton Administration was in the process of making large corporate farms regulate emissions. Yet documents that leaked from a series of Bush EPA closed door meetings with corporate farms indicate that the Bush Administration wants to grant amnesty to corporate farms from the Clean Air Act. Kerry is extremely concerned about air pollution from large corporate farms and does not believe that they should be exempt from the Clean Air Act.  In a Kerry Administration, corporate farms will be held accountable for their pollution and will be held to high standards for the health of the environment and rural Americans.

III. NEW STEPS TO IMPROVE INDOOR AIR QUALITY AND REDUCE ASTHMA. The air that we breathe during much of the day is the air that circulates in our schools, hospitals, factories, and offices.  Unfortunately, many of us are spending our days breathing stale, and sometimes dangerous, indoor air - with harmful allergens, molds and chemicals.   The Bush Administration has virtually ignored this threat to our health, despite periodic reports of "sick" buildings and serious mold issues. Contaminants -- indoors and outdoors -- have particularly potent effects on infants and determine how healthy he or she is for life.  Kerry would make improving indoor air quality a priority.  He will direct the EPA to:  

Ø      Develop scientifically sound and protective indoor air quality standards and measurement methods.

Ø      Develop indoor air filter systems and work with state and local officials to phase in their use in schools, hospitals, and old age homes.

Ø      Establish a program to educate commercial building owners and homeowners on indoor air treatment and source elimination options.

Ø      Identify sources of harmful man-made chemicals in indoor air and work with industry to reduce or eliminate their presence in building materials and furnishings.

IV. IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH BY REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.  Kerry will address global warning emissions in order to yield powerful, immediate benefits to public health through a combination of innovative programs that drive technology change and create jobs.

Ø      Work With International Community to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The U.S. must join the international community to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.  The Bush Administration has stubbornly refused to confront the serious consequences of rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence.  Kerry will put us on a long-term path toward meaningful reductions in emissions and, ultimately, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels that will prevent harmful changes in the earth's climate.

Cap and Trade Program for Greenhouse Gases. Kerry will call for all major sources of greenhouse gas emissions to participate in a cap and trade emissions reduction program, so that the power of the marketplace can encourage the most cost-effective reductions, whether at coal-fired utilities or from automobile tailpipes. This cap-and-trade program will reinforce other near-term initiatives that drive down emissions without reducing economic output.