Help Protect North Carolina from Ozone Pollution
Your voice is needed to protect North Carolina's air quality and public health from the effects of ozone pollution! Ozone pollution exacerbates breathing problems such as asthma and causes an estimated 1,000 hospital visits a year in North Carolina alone. North Carolina has 3 of the 25 most ozone-polluted cities in the country, according to the American Lung Associations 2003 State of the Air Report.
To comply with the Clean Air Act, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recommended that up to 33 whole counties across the state be designated as 'nonattainment' areas, meaning their local governments will have to work together to reduce pollution and restore healthy air.
Unfortunately, North Carolinas Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is fighting for a much more geographically limited designation that would include just a fraction of the EPA list. EPA has already rejected the states plan once, but, under pressure from industry, DENR continues to press for limited designations.
Please urge Bill Ross, Secretary of DENR, to stop fighting the EPAs designations and accurately report this states ozone pollution problems. Sign the petition below to protect public health in NC!
Dear Secretary Ross:
I urge you to protect air quality and public health by accepting the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) recommended designations of nonattainment areas for ozone pollution.
Nonattainment boundaries should be broad enough to capture all pollution sources that could contribute to violations of the ozone standard. Narrowly drawn boundaries encourage the siting of new industry and highways immediately outside the boundary line, encouraging sprawl development, and making air pollution problems even worse.
The nonattainment area designation is an opportunity, not a threat. I urge you, instead of fighting EPAs recommendation, to focus on helping the local communities in these designated areas clean up their emissions and plan for future growth that does not pollute the air. Ultimately, our health and economy will benefit a lot more from working to comply with, rather than seeking to sidestep, the standards of the Clean Air Act.
Thank you for considering my comments.
