[pf] Some voters want cleaner air

by Kaleopono

29 December 2000 22:37 UTC

VOTERS WANT TOUGHER CLEAN AIR STANDARDS

CONCORD, New Hampshire, December 28, 2000 (ENS) - On the eve of the 30th
anniversary of the Clean Air Act, post election national and statewide New
Hampshire surveys show that voters want tougher clean air standards based on
new science rather than economics. Voters also want stricter enforcement of
the law, show surveys conducted for the nonprofit Clean Air Trust and Clean
Air Network. The surveys focus attention on the issues faced by New
Hampshire Senator Bob Smith, the Republican chair of the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee. Members of Smith's panel have introduced
polluter backed legislation that would repeal the Clean Air Act provision
which requires that national clean air health standards be based solely on
health science. Some of Smith's colleagues want the public to know the
health impact of dirty air only if it does not cost too much to clean up.

The Clean Air Act, which became law on December 31, 1970, calls on the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to set national clean air health standards
based solely on the best available science. In the national and New
Hampshire surveys, almost nine of ten voters favor updating clean air health
standards to reflect new science. More than nine out of ten voters favor
requiring that people be told when air pollution levels in their community
are high enough to impact their health or the health of their families,
regardless of how much it will cost them to clean up. More than two-thirds
of voters say the health standards should be set at a level strict enough to
protect children with asthma and senior citizens. Almost seven in ten favor
setting clean air standards based solely on scientific data without regard
to the cost of pollution cleanup. By a 72-13 margin, voters reject the
notion that large companies will spend the money needed to reduce pollution
without "government rules and enforcement of pollution standards."