It spews from America’s power plants, cars and trucks, factories, and more. Tiny particles infiltrate our lungs, causing the heart and lung diseases that we know make COVID-19 more deadly. 

In the midst of this respiratory health crisis, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s own scientists called on him to strengthen the limits on this widespread air pollution — called particulate pollution, or soot — but he chose instead to prioritize polluters’ interests over public health. 

Don’t stand for it: Speak out today and demand the EPA listen to the scientists and protect Americans from this dangerous pollution during this unprecedented public health crisis.

EPA’s own scientists found that strengthening the current standard on this particulate pollution — also known as soot — could save as many as 10,000 American lives every year, but the Trump administration is throwing that away. 

Why? Because our nation’s biggest oil lobby and a dozen other pro-polluter organizations urged retention of inadequate standards. 

This isn’t just an environmental concern — it’s also an equity issue. According to a 2019 study from the University of Minnesota, this very type of pollution is “disproportionately caused by the consumption of goods and services by the non-Hispanic white majority, but disproportionately inhaled by Black and Hispanic minorities.” 

As Michelle A. Williams and Jeffrey Sánchez of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recently explained in The New York Times, Black Americans are 75% more likely to live near polluting facilities. Before COVID-19 struck, Black children were 500 times more likely to die from asthma than their white peers. 

And a study from their school now suggests areas with high air pollution levels before this crisis have suffered higher COVID-19 death rates. Potential risks from air pollution are compounded by other systemic inequities — including a lack of access to health care and the demand to make ends meet where remote work isn’t an option — and are likely to be contributing to the clear disparities we’re seeing in how COVID-19 is affecting different communities.  

These pollution disparities must be addressed, and EPA must take action to protect American communities from this known danger.

We have just 4 days left until EPA’s comment period on this dangerous decision closes — and we’re 4,976 signatures short of our goal. Add your name today, before it’s too late!

Thank you for standing with us,

Heather Shelby
Action Network Manager