Where does he cite CO2 as the cause of asthma and heart attacks in your link???? He''s talking about smog, soot, particles .......... I felt you were telling another Brumstortion..........
Here's his actual words..........
theenergycollective.com
The Obama administration announced its Clean Power Plan proposal for working with states to set national limits on heat-trapping carbon pollution from the nation’s existing power plants. It’s the main cause of the rapid climate change we’ve seen in recent decades. And as a nation, by putting the brakes on this carbon pollution we stand to gain a great deal for better health and more climate-secure communities.
I listened on a conference call among public health leaders with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and President Barack Obama speaking about the health milestone these proposed standards represent. An Ohio mom joined the President’s call and described efforts to help her son Parker, a 10-year-old with severe asthma, stay healthy. She applauded the Obama Administration for doing their part to limit the pollution that worsens Parker’s struggles.
The President offered his own perspectives:
“… Since air pollution from power plants actually worsens asthma and other breathing problems, putting these guidelines in place will help protect the health of vulnerable Americans, including children and the elderly.
And I just want to give one example; I got a letter from Dian Coleman, who is a mother of four. Her three kids have asthma. Her daughter has a congenital health defect. She keeps her home free of dust that can trigger asthma attacks. Cigarettes aren’t allowed across the threshold of her home. But despite all that, she can't control the pollution that contributes potentially to her kids’ illnesses, as well as threatening the planet. We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing something on behalf of Dian, and doing it in a way that allows us also to grow the economy and get at the forefront of our clean energy future.
And the health issues that we’re talking about hit some communities particularly hard. African American children are twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma, four times as likely to die from asthma. Latinos are 30 percent more likely to be hospitalized for asthma. So these proposed standards will help us meet that challenge head on.”
Indeed, climate change fuels many of the kinds of health-harming extreme weather we’ve seen in recent years. Extreme heat kills more Americans every year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and all other natural disasters combined. One 2006 California heat wave sent over 16,000 people to emergency rooms. Those warmer temperatures also contribute to smog in the air, and breathing this pollution can inflame lungs. That makes it hard for people already struggling with respiratory illness, like Parker, to get a lungful of clean air. The American Thoracic Society—the professional association of lung doctors—said climate change is dangerous not only for kids but also for older people, because their lungs are also more vulnerable to respiratory diseases caused by smog.
Extreme rains are fueled by climate change, too. The amount of rain falling during extreme downpours has increased 71% in the Northeast over the last 50 years.
NRDC’s President Frances Beinecke wrote yesterday about the range of health, environmental and economic wins we as a nation can see when we reduce carbon pollution.
Health groups and health leaders are stepping up already to support EPA’s proposed limits:
- Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, applauded the US EPA for taking “a critical and necessary step for ensuring greater health now and for future generations.”
- The American Lung Association statement said, “Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards Would Protect Health of Millions of Americans.”
- California Healthline detailed ways the new climate change plan can improve public health.
- Dr. George Thurston, a spokesperson for the American Thoracic Society, said the rules would reduce "the most toxic particles and ones associated with the most severe effects." He also noted in the New York Times that the effects would be "local and immediate, so the people who do the cleanup will get the benefits."
- The American Academy of Pediatrics' President James Perrin said in a statement, "As climate change accelerates, children will continue to suffer disproportionately," adding, "The regulation released today ... is a welcome and needed step to help make the air we breathe safer and cleaner for children."
The Bottom Line is: the EPA plan is historic and the biggest proposal ever to reduce the biggest driver of climate change. We need to support this opportunity. We can’t afford to ‘kick the can’ and delay action on climate any longer, because with each kick, that can gets heavier and harder to kick for our kids and grandkids.
Each of us can take action now to support these health-protective standards, and stand in solidarity with parents of children like Parker and the 26 million Americans with asthma. Their health matters, so let’s make sure we prevent climate change at its source. Building healthier, more climate-secure communities can become a priority when we say “yes” to limiting carbon pollution.
Photo Credit: Carbon and Public Health/shutterstock
Remarks by The President in a Conference Call hosted by Public Health Groups Via Conference Call
2:10 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks, Gina. And thanks to all the folks at EPA who worked so hard to put this plan forward. I want to thank everybody who is on the call. We’re going to be talking about carbon pollution and the standards that we proposed this morning.
I think a lot of people are aware of the Climate Action Plan that I put forward last year based on what we know, which is that climate change is real. It has impacts not just in a distant future. It has serious impacts, as we speak. And what the EPA and Gina has been able to put forward, based on conversations they’ve had with a wide range of stakeholders from businesses, to workers, to many of the health organizations that are on the phone today, what she’s been able to do with her team is to craft a sensible, state-based plan that provides states a wide range of options in terms of achieving their goals, but makes sure that we are reducing the carbon pollution that hurts the health of our kids, and the health of the planet, while also giving us enormous opportunities to grow and improve the economy in all sorts of ways.
Now, up until now there have been no national limits on the amount of carbon pollution that existing power plants can pump into the air. In contrast, we limit the amount of toxic chemicals, like mercury and sulfur and arsenic that power plants put into our air and water. And the essence of the plan that the EPA is presenting makes sure that we’re finally doing the same with carbon.
Since carbon emissions are a major contributor to climate change, and since power plants are responsible for about 40 percent of America’s carbon pollution, these new standards are going to help us leave our children a safer and more stable world.
And since air pollution from power plants actually worsens asthma and other breathing problems, putting these guidelines in place will help protect the health of vulnerable Americans, including children and the elderly.
And I just want to give one example, I got a letter from Dian Coleman, who is a mother of four. Her three kids have asthma. Her daughter has a congenital health defect. She keeps her home free of dust that can trigger asthma attacks. Cigarettes aren’t allowed across the threshold of her home. But despite all that, she can't control the pollution that contributes potentially to her kids’ illnesses, as well as threatening the planet. We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing something on behalf of Dian, and doing it in a way that allows us also to grow the economy and get at the forefront of our clean energy future.
And the health issues that we’re talking about hit some communities particularly hard. African American children are twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma, four times as likely to die from asthma. Latinos are 30 percent more likely to be hospitalized for asthma. So these proposed standards will help us meet that challenge head on. It sets carbon targets, give states and regions the flexibility to meet them, using the mix of energy resources that work best for them -- whether it’s natural gas or cleaner coal or solar or wind or hydropower or geothermal or nuclear. And it provides a huge incentive for the states and consumers to become more energy efficient.
As a result, your electricity bills will shrink as these standards spur investment in energy efficiency, cutting waste, and ultimately we’re going to be saving money for homes and for businesses.
Now, I promise you, you will hear from critics who say the same thing they always say, that these guidelines will kill jobs, or crush the economy. What we’ve seen every time, is that these claims are debunked when you actually give workers and businesses the tools and the incentive they need to innovate. When Americans are called on to innovate, that's what we do -- whether it’s making more fuel-efficient cars or more fuel-efficient appliances, or making sure that we are putting in place the kinds of equipment that prevents harm to the ozone layer and eliminates acid rain. At every one of these steps, there have been folks who have said it can't be done. There have been naysayers who said this is going to destroy jobs and destroy industry.
And it doesn't happen because once we have a clear target to meet, we typically meet it. And we find the best ways to do it.
And by the way, the idea of setting higher standards to cut carbon is not new. A lot of companies are already moving to lower-carbon energy sources. You’ve got more than a dozen states that are already implementing market-based programs to reduce carbon pollution. Over a thousand mayors have agreed to cut their cities’ carbon emissions.
Today, carbon emissions are at the lowest they’ve been in about 20 years. And that’s a good start. But it’s just not good enough when you look at the projections of where we’re going. And for the sake of our children, we’re going to have to do more. In America, we do not have to choose between the health of our economy and the health of our kids. We can do both.
And you should expect that there’s going to be a heated debate in Washington, there’s going to be a lot of efforts to put out misinformation and to try to make sure that spin overwhelms substance, and that PR overwhelms science, but I wanted to call you directly so you guys hear from me directly this is something that is important for all of us. As parents, as grandparents, as citizens, as folks who care about the health of our families and also want to make sure that future generations are able to enjoy this beautiful blue ball in the middle of space that we’re a part of. So I just want you to all join in and work hard to build momentum for these plans because this the right direction to go in, and it’s going to mean a better future for America.
And if we’re working together, I guarantee you we can build that cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future. So thanks very much, everybody. Bye-bye.
END
2:17 P.M. EDT
whitehouse.gov |
