On the recordMarch 8, 2011
America's environmental laws are public health laws. Undermining those public health laws may protect special interests, but last year the Clean Air Act protected American families from 1.7 million asthma attacks, 130,000 heart attacks and 86,000 emergency room visits. In New Mexico, over 170,000 residents suffer from asthma, and over 47,000 of those are children. Thousands also suffer from other respiratory illnesses. The House bill puts hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans at greater risk from pollution from powerplants, oil refineries, mines, and cement kilns. The Clean Air Act has cut six major pollutants by over 40 percent, but air pollution still claims 70,000 lives per year, three times that of car accidents. If we weaken that act, unfortunately, that number will rise. That is why the American Lung Association opposes these environmental rollbacks in the House bill. The Clean Air Act also protects pregnant mothers and developing children from mercury, a neurotoxin that creates problems in brain development, including attention and memory problems. Mercury comes out of smoke stacks into the air, deposits into our water, and is also consumed in the fish that we eat. One New Mexico pediatrician, Dr. K.P. Stoller, notes that "mercury is the most toxic non-radioactive element on the periodic table." In New Mexico, over 2,000 pounds of mercury are emitted each year. Clean Air Act standards are making progress reducing that amount.
