🚀 go-pugleaf

epa allows people to lose their lung functioning by the hundreds of 
thousands and nothing is done to minimize damage. I am saying its worse for 
lots of conditions if they wanted to compare. This is outrageous.
Not only has the percentage of good air days grown worse since this report,
its gotten way worse. We have NE winds today but most days we get no clean
air ever . Two years ago we had many more. Everyone is silent. The
Phillyblog censures me and 6abc.com censures me. This is our dependence on
dirty fuel disel and coal? Why? Not only do we lose our health where this no
going back we have to pay close to 4 bucks a gallon for this poison .


The air pollution threat may be invisible, but it is real-we know it can
sicken, and we know it can kill," said Carolyn Wisniewski, Vice President
for the American Lung Association of Pennsylvania. Wisniewski estimated that
about 400,000 persons with chronic lung disease and nearly 900,000 people
with heart disease were at special risk from air pollution in the 5-county
Southeastern Pennsylvania area.
"A large study released this month in the New England Journal of Medicine
documented that children living in polluted areas have a five fold greater
risk of decreased lung function," said Dr. Joel Chinitz with Philadelphia
Physicians for Social Responsibility. "This impairment occurred independent
of asthma or smoking."

"Eighty-eight percent of Pennsylvanians live in areas that do not meet the
federal government's basic air quality standards," said Arthur Stamoulis,
Policy Analyst for Clean Air Council. "If we really want to protect the
health of our children, power plants must be required to install modern
pollution controls."

"I am the mother of two young sons, both asthmatics. I may not be a
scientist, but I do know this-the health rooms in each of our district
schools has cabinets devoted to just inhalers; all alphabetized, because
there are so many," stated Lisa Graves Marcucci of Jefferson Action Group,
Inc. Marcucci challenged all elected officials and regulators "to let
science and medical facts dictate policy instead of corporate money."

"The high levels of ozone and particulate matter in the Pittsburgh area and
statewide should act as an alarm to our state and local government
officials," said Elizabeth Rosemeyer, policy and outreach coordinator for
Group Against Smog and Pollution (G.A.S.P.). "This report points to the need
for strong regulations to protect the health and welfare of our residents."

"President Bush is shortchanging the health of Allentown residents with the
breaks he keeps giving to big business, especially the power plants and
other polluters. Allentown residents need to send a strong message to
Washington that the health of our children is not for sale," said Alisa
Bauman, Chair of the Lehigh Valley Sierra Club.

"Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Levels of Air Pollution in 2003" is
PennEnvironment's fifth annual analysis of air quality based on a survey of
environmental agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For
the first time, the report examines levels of fine particle "soot" pollution
in addition to ozone "smog" pollution. Key Pennsylvania findings include the
following:

- Pennsylvania ranked fourth nationwide for the worst year-round soot
pollution and second for the most spikes in soot pollution in 2003.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia ranked fifth and 13th respectively for the
highest year-round soot pollution among major U.S. cities in 2003.
Lancaster, York-Hanover, Harrisburg-Carlisle, Reading, and Allentown