This Wednesday, clean air advocates held a rally in downtown Tampa to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) updated air quality standards which will be announced by the end of the month. According to the EPA, proposed updates to reduce mercury pollution from power plants will “prevent as many as 17,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart attacks a year, in addition to 120,000 asthma attacks and about 11,000 cases of acute bronchitis among children annually.”
With children starting school and the EPA’s impending decision, Phil Compton, organizing representative for Sierra Club Florida Regional Office, believes that the rally is an opportune moment to raise awareness and gain signatures for the Sierra Club’s Clean Air Promise. After speeches by concerned residents and members of the Suncoast Pediatric Asthma Coalitions, members were encouraged to sign the petition and get involved.
This article appears in Aug 25-31, 2011.