National Poll Shows the Public Wants EPA to Do More to Reduce Air Pollution
WASHINGTON – As big polluters and their allies in Congress continue attacks on the Clean Air Act, the American Lung Association released a new bipartisan survey examining public views of the Clean Air Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to update and enforce lifesaving clean air standards, including carbon and mercury emissions from power plants.
The bipartisan survey, conducted by Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Republican firm Perception Insight, finds that nearly three-quarters of likely voters (73 percent) nationwide support the view that it is possible to protect public health through stronger air quality standards while achieving a healthy economy, over the notion that we must choose between public health or a strong economy. This overwhelming support includes 78 percent of independents, 60 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of conservatives, as well as significant support in Maine, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The Obama Administration will soon release updated clean air standards for carbon pollution emitted by power plants, and a substantial majority of voters support the EPA implementing these standards, even after hearing opposing arguments that stricter standards will damage the economic recovery. Initially, 72 percent of voters nationwide support the new protections on carbon emissions from power plants, including overwhelming majorities of both Democrats and independents and a majority of Republicans.
After listening to a balanced debate with messages both for and against setting new carbon standards, support still remained robust with a near 2-to-1 margin (63 percent in favor and 33 percent opposed). Support remained especially robust in Maine and Pennsylvania (64 percent in each state). The majority of Ohio voters (52 percent) also favored new carbon standards, which is notable since the poll was conducted during a period of heavy media attention concerning statewide electricity rate increases and potential power plant shutdowns.
“This bipartisan poll affirms that clean air protections have broad support across the political spectrum,” said Peter Iwanowicz, Assistant Vice President, National Policy and Advocacy with the American Lung Association. “Big polluters and their allies in Congress cannot ignore the facts; more air pollution means more childhood asthma attacks, more illness and more people dying prematurely. It’s time polluters and their Congressional allies drop their attempts to weaken, block or delay clean air protections and listen to the public who overwhelmingly wants the EPA to do more to protect the air we breathe.”
Voters also voiced strong support for stricter standards to control industrial and power sector mercury and toxic air pollution. When asked about setting stricter limits on the amount of mercury that power plants and other facilities emit, 78 percent of likely voters were in favor of the EPA updating these standards.
Strong support was also seen for stricter standards on industrial boilers. Initially, 69 percent of voters supported the EPA implementing stricter standards on boiler emissions. After hearing messaging from both sides of the issue, voters continued to support these standards by nearly a 20-point margin (56 percent favor, 37 percent oppose).
Key poll findings include:
- Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of voters, say that we do not have to choose between air quality and a strong economy – we can achieve both
- 2-to-1 majority (60 to 31 percent) believe that strengthening safeguards against pollution will create, rather than destroy, jobs by encouraging innovation
- About two-thirds of voters (66 percent) favor EPA updating air pollution standards by setting stricter limits
- 72 percent of voters support new standards for carbon pollution from power plants and support is strong (63 percent) after hearing arguments from both sides of the issue
- 60 percent of voters support stricter standards for gasoline and limits on the amount of tailpipe emissions from cars and SUVs (particularly strong given all the recent attention to high gasoline prices).
Despite more than a year’s worth of continued attacks on clean air protections from big corporate polluters and their allies in Congress, voters across the political spectrum view the Clean Air Act very positively; with a 2-to-1 favorable to unfavorable ratio. At the same time, feelings toward Congress continue to drop, especially among Democrats and independents. Just 18 percent of voters nationally give Congress a favorable rating, while 56 percent rate Congress unfavorable. The unfavorable rating of Congress is up 9 percent since the American Lung Association’s last survey released in June 2011.
“The survey clearly indicates that voters reject the notion that we have to choose between strong safeguards against air pollution and economic growth,” said Andrew Bauman, Vice President at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. “In fact, voters overwhelmingly believe that stronger safeguards against air pollution will create jobs in America.”
“The poll does show there is broad support across partisan lines for new carbon regulations on power plants,” said Marc DelSignore, President of Perception Insight. “However, there is a significant difference in the views regarding the impact regulations may have on the economy, with Republicans expressing higher concern for possible job loss and rising energy prices than Democrats or independents.”
The full survey, along with slides and a memo from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Perception Insight may be found here.
Methodology: The survey was conducted for the American Lung Association by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Perception Insight. The firms conducted a national survey of 2,000 likely 2012 voters, including oversamples of 400 likely voters each in the following states: Maine, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The survey was conducted February 27- March 4, 2012. The margin of error for the full national sample is 3.5%. For each oversample region, it is approximately 4.9% depending on sample size.
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American Lung Association launches campaign to protect the Clean Air Act
(Chicago) – The American Lung Association has launched a statewide campaign to educate Illinois public health professionals about the importance of the Clean Air Act, and encourage them to stand up in support of the legislation.
“The Clean Air Act protects public health by reducing harmful pollutants like soot and air toxics, and gives the Environmental Protection Agency the ability to clean up the air,” said Amy Ochalski, Healthy Air Campaign manager. “It’s one of the most effective tools in our arsenal to protect lung health, yet it continually faces opposition from some members of Congress.
“If we want to continue to have clean, healthy air, the medical and public health communities must engage in this fight.”
Dan Dolan-Laughlin, a Wheaton resident suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), spoke with the group about the real-life impacts of clean air. Having received a double lung transplant in late 2011 clean air is a matter of life and death for him.
“I have to be very careful of where I am,” said Dolan-Laughlin. “I was going to take the train in today [but] I didn’t because the train shed is just about enough to make you pass out if you have a breathing disorder. Walking along the streets in downtown Chicago is not terribly healthy.”
The Clean Air Act was created in 1970 by then President Richard Nixon. The Act gives the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the power to create health-based standards for improving the air we breathe. Forty years later, some members of Congress now want to weaken the Clean Air Act and effectively roll back the progress that has been made.
The two most widespread air pollutants: ozone – created by gasses that come out of tailpipes and smokestacks; and particle pollution – directly emitted from tailpipes, smokestacks and wood fires – have very serious health effects. The most vulnerable Illinoisans are children and teenagers; the elderly; people suffering from chronic diseases including asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes; and individuals with low incomes.
Illinois has 23 coal‐fired power plants that produce over 80 toxic air pollutants such as arsenic, mercury, formaldehyde, and benzene. These plants are among the largest contributors to our ozone and particle pollution problem. In addition, pollution comes into Illinois from power plants in neighboring states.
“There is a direct correlation between this national legislation and the quality of life for families in Illinois,” said Peter Iwanowicz, American Lung Association’s national vice president. “The Clean Air Act saves lives. It reduces the severity of asthma attacks. It keeps children and the elderly out of the emergency room.”
The American Lung Association estimates that nationally the Clean Air Act saved 160,000 people from premature death in 2010. U.S. EPA estimates that the Act will prevent over 230,000 premature deaths in 2020.
“Most people think scientists, not Congress, should set the health standards for our country,” said Ochalski. “Our goal is to demonstrate that Illinois’ health community supports strong standards to keep people healthy.
Dozens of public health experts, medical professionals and policy experts attended the February 1 event at the American Lung Association’s Chicago office and committed to becoming more involved in the fight for clean air.
Visit fightingforair.org to learn more about the campaign and get involved.
About the American Lung Association in Illinois:
Our mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. With your generous support, the American Lung Association is “Fighting for Air” through research, education and advocacy. For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or visit www.lungil.org.
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Canasta tours Mongolia as part of U.S. State Department initiative
Canasta layers up
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2012
CONTACT
Christopher Lackner
chris@lacknerandrews.com
CHICAGO INDIE BAND CANASTA TO TOUR MONGOLIA AS PART OF
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT PERFORMING ARTS INITIATIVE
Next month, Chicago indie band Canasta heads to the hinterlands of Mongolia as part of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Arts Envoy Program.
The tour begins on February 3rd in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar and continues on to Sainshand and Dalanzadgad, finishing back in Ulaanbaatar on the 10th.
The Arts Envoy Program shares the best of the U.S. arts community with the world to foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration and to demonstrate shared values and aspirations. American arts professionals, including performing artists, visual artists, poets, playwrights, directors, and curators, travel overseas to perform, conduct workshops, and mentor young people. Programs seek to connect with international audiences that might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with American arts professionals. Arts Envoy exchanges last from 5 days to 6 weeks and take place worldwide.
In addition to live performances, Canasta will conduct classes and seminars for local music students, lead jam sessions, and discuss the creative process they use to bring their music to life.
“One of the more interesting things about us is our “craftsman” approach—combining our music schooling background with our love of pop and rock, and then adding a lot of Midwestern hard work to craft our songs, rather than a virtuoso technique or inspiration from the muses,” said Elizabeth Lindau, violinist and vocalist for the band. “I hope we can inspire people to think about their musical heritage and perhaps new ways of combining instruments to create a sound that is unique to their country and culture.”
Canasta has toured the United States significantly, sharing the stage with Wilco, Grizzly Bear, Devotchka, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Menomena, Sloan, Kaiser Chiefs, White Rabbits, and The Delgados. They even played a set for President Obama during his campaign. This is their first tour outside the country.
Canasta is Matt Priest (lead vocals, bass, trombone); Elizabeth Lindau (violin, vocals); Jeremy Beckford (guitar); Brian Palmieri (drums); Ryan Tracy (keyboard, piano, bass); and Sarah Kneebone (piano, keyboard).
More at canastamusic.com/mongolia
White House strongly opposes SJ Res 27
You should, too. Call/email/tweet Senator Kirk and Senator Durbin and urge them to stand up for clean air and a stronger green economy.
One in seven Chicagoans lacks easy access to healthy food
Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group today released the 2011 Chicago Food Desert Drilldown, which provides new analysis and maps of current Food Desert conditions.
While the Food Desert has declined nearly 40 percent over the past five years since the firm’s original 2006 landmark study, serious health and retail challenges persist, Gallagher said. The Drilldown provides details including:
- Nearly 384,000 Chicagoans live in food deserts.
- 70 percent are African American.
- More than 124,000 are children.
- Nearly 70,000 households are headed by single women with children.
- 40,000 households do not own cars.
Based on the Drilldown, Gallagher said the target date to eliminate the Chicago Food Desert completely should be 2015, as more and more grocers have announced plans to enter the Food Desert and strategic data can identify the highest impact sites. The firm will repeat the analysis every six months beginning in early 2012 until this is accomplished.
Gallagher also stressed that over $880 million from the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly known as Food Stamps), flowed through Chicago in 2010, and that many of the Food Desert SNAP stores are “fringe” meaning that they sell very little if any healthful food.
“SNAP is a vital program, but we need to both enforce and raise the standards,” Gallagher said. “Especially at a time when budgets are being slashed everywhere, we must ensure that SNAP promotes good food, public health, and is an economic development engine.”
Gallagher’s original Chicago report found statistically significant relationships between Food Desert conditions and more premature diet-related death after controlling for other key factors. That report motivated Congressman Bobby Rush to enter Food Desert language into the Farm Bill and helped popularize the term Food Desert nationally.
Visit www.marigallagher.com/projects to download the report.
Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group has enjoyed a national reputation for diverse, high impact projects across the United States. Our expertise includes quantitative and qualitative research projects; financial services, housing, community development, community planning, workforce issues, the economy, immigration, and community health; commercial site assessments and hands-on redevelopment consulting; business strategies; mapping; and facilitation and public forums.
Coalition pushes for broadband expansion in Illinois
Citing broadband’s ability to spur economic growth and improve the quality of living among many communities, a diverse group of Illinois organizations and leaders have formed a coalition to promote making broadband available throughout the state.
“Broadband drives everything from our economy to educational opportunity, helping businesses connect to new markets and students connect to education anywhere in the world. Those opportunities should be available to every family and business in the state, no matter where they are located,” said Larry Ivory, co-chair of Internet Innovation Alliance Illinois.
Relaunch of PeterSagal.com
Earlier this week, Lackner/Andrews launched the new website of Peter Sagal, host of the the weekly NPR quiz show, Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
Peter wanted to reorganize his website with a new layout that emphasized his blog writings and Twitter activity. For the visual design, Peter called on his friend, illustrator Chris Ware, to provide custom artwork, which became the basis for the look and feel of the rest of the site. Peter’s blog posts are always a good read, so bookmark the site and enjoy!
From Barracks to Battlefield
Pew Charitable Trusts this week released “From Barracks to Battlefield,” a report that finds that U.S. Department of Defense clean energy investments increased 300 percent between 2006 and 2009, from $400 million to $1.2 billion, and are projected to eclipse $10 billion annually by 2030.
Press release and more information here. And as you can see, video below.