Memo: Struggling to Breathe - Asthma, Pollution, and the Fight for Environmental Justice
By Rebecca Bratspies Director, Center for Urban Environmental Reform; Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law
Executive Summary
Asthma rates in the United States are intimately connected with environmental policy choices. Weak regulation or non-compliance with pollution control has resulted in uneven air quality across the country and corresponding elevated health risks. The disease burden has fallen primarily on nonwhite communities, and particularly nonwhite children, who—due to America’s racialized housing geography—tend to live in more heavily-polluted communities.
We can make better environmental policy choices that will lead to dramatic improvements to community health. The federal government can set stricter limitations on emissions and can more rigorously enforce existing regulations. States and local governments can act in the absence of federal enforcement by eliminating the dirtiest fuel oils, rerouting trucks, and requiring companies they contract with to use vehicles that meet stringent pollution control standards. We can also reduce the impact of pollution by investing in green infrastructure, such as planting more trees, and by empowering communities to reduce asthma triggers in homes and schools.
There is significant popular support for the actions necessary to improve air quality and reduce asthma rates. Polling from Data for Progress and The Justice Collaborative Institute found that a majority of likely voters (65%), including 59% of Republicans and 56% of Independents, support stricter air quality standards even when it results in increased costs to the companies who produce the pollutants.
