This week, President Trump is expected to announce his preliminary budget outline, which according to major news outlets citing senior administration officials, will slash billions of dollars from the Environmental Protection Agency, seriously undermining many of the programs that protect public health.
Thanks to the EPA’s successful implementation of the Clean Air Act, air pollution in Massachusetts has been reduced from 84 ‘bad air’ days annually in 1983 to 7 in 2016. Reductions in air pollution have had measurable health impacts, including preventing thousands of premature deaths, heart attacks, and respiratory problems associated with breathing dirty air. Poor air quality also damages the natural environment through acid rain effects on aquatic ecosystems and nitrogen deposition to coastal estuaries.
Boston experiences dozens fewer “bad air” days annually today than in the past,, thanks largely to the Clean Air Act. Photo credit: US National Archives
Mass Audubon will be advocating against these cuts! You can help raise awareness by tweeting what the EPA means to you, along with relevant photos, using the hashtag #myepa. Here’s what we tweeted:
No going back: Boston air pollution down from 84 “bad air” days in 1983 to 7 in 2016 thx to EPA’s Clean Air Act #myEPA