You don’t want to disappoint these kids.Photo: Sean Suddes/Sierra ClubChildren’s health won’t be improved by the Republicans’ Dirty Air Act.
From Seattle to Pittsburgh, children can be found outside, playing football and baseball, or just playing a good game of tag. However, hundreds of thousands of children are unable to take part because the air they breathe is making them sick. It was disturbing, then, last week that the Energy and Commerce committee held a hearing in which Republicans were pushing ahead on legislation to gut the Clean Air Act and retire important safeguards against the very pollutants that cause these children and so many others significant health problems.
This week, in their zeal to let big polluters control public policy, Republicans attached their Dirty Air Act as a rider to their 2011 budget Continuing Resolution (CR) — important legislation to fund the operations of the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year.
Hundreds of thousands of children face the severe health risks associated with air and water pollution. That is why Congress first adopted the Clean Air Act under President Richard Nix... Read more