Carper Applauds Historic New Ozone Pollution Standards to Protect Public Health

“Today’s announcement is purely a statement of fact – to protect our health, we need less ozone pollution in the air,” Senator says

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement that it will implement stricter standards to curb ozone pollution that poses a serious threat to public health and has been linked to asthma, heart disease and premature death. The Senator has been a long time champion of efforts to reduce dangerous emissions that contribute to ozone pollution.

“As a parent, I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about my own children’s health, but as a U.S. Senator, I worry about every child’s health. That’s why I’ve worked so hard with my colleagues – Democrats and Republicans alike – to make sure that all our children have clean air that’s safe to breathe. We have made remarkable progress in cleaning up harmful air pollution, but – if truth be told – we still have a long way to go in many parts of America.

“As medical science evolves, so too does our understanding of ‘healthy air.’ For decades, we have known that ozone pollution caused by dirty power plants, automobiles, and other sources is linked to serious health problems like asthma, strokes, heart attacks, and even early deaths. We have also known that ozone pollution is especially dangerous for our children. Parents who have watched their kids with asthma suffer on high ozone days know this better than anyone. Our understanding of the extent to which ozone pollution in the air makes us sick, however, has changed over the years as our research has become more advanced.

“Through the Clean Air Act, Congress required the EPA to base air quality and public health standards on the best science available and to review these benchmarks every five years. After reviewing more than a thousand scientific studies, the EPA announced today that our current ozone health standards are too weak and no longer adequately protect our health. Despite what many may say, today’s announcement is purely a statement of fact – to protect our health, we need less ozone pollution. I urge the EPA’s Administrator to move quickly to finalize plans for the new ozone air quality standards so our nation can finally move forward in making the pollution reductions we need to achieve cleaner, healthier air.”  

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