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The Latest by Sam Edmondson

Campaign Manager

Sam Edmondson was a campaign manager on air toxics issues from 2010 until 2012. He helped organize the first 50 States United for Healthy Air event. His desire to work at an environmental organization came from the belief that if we don't do something to change our unsustainable ways, we are in big trouble.

October 14, 2011

We Said Run the Country, Not Ruin It

By Sam Edmondson  /  Policy and Legislation Team

Somewhere along the road from their home districts to their offices in Washington, D.C., our Congressional representatives got their wires crossed. The American public sent them forth with a mandate to run the country, but instead, they’re ruining it. Toward the end of September, the House passed the first piece of House Majority Leader Eric …

October 12, 2011

Republicans Like Clean Air, Too

By Sam Edmondson

The title of this post isn’t a revelation. If it’s surprising at all, it’s only because there is one highly visible place where it just isn’t true: Congress. The Republican leadership is working hard to make the legislative branch of our government a kind of Bermuda triangle where clean air standards disappear mysteriously down a …

October 4, 2011

In U.S. House, Clean Air is a Dirty Word

By Sam Edmondson

Quick! Somebody tell Tipper Gore that “clean air” and “public health” are now considered dirty words. Well, at least in the U.S. House of Representatives. If the House had a swear jar, I’d bet such utterances would be as punishable as your garden variety expletives. Here’s why: The House is voting this week on two …

July 26, 2011

The Great Promise of Clean Air

By Sam Edmondson

Meet Tommy Allred. He lives in Midlothian, TX, a town of fewer than 10,000 roughly 18,000 residents that also hosts three of the nation’s most polluting cement plants. Like millions of kids across the U.S., Tommy has asthma. He developed the condition after his family moved to Midlothian, when he was two years old. First …

July 19, 2011

Historic Numbers of Americans Call for Clean Air

By Sam Edmondson

How many Americans does it take to clean up dirty coal-fired power plants? 639,000. A coalition of public health, environmental and social justice groups delivered that number of public comments to the Environmental Protection Agency today at an event in Boston. This is a historic amount of support for air pollution standards that are projected …

July 14, 2011

One Baaaaad Mother…

By Sam Edmondson

I love my mother with all of my heart. But if for some strange reason I had to choose another, I’d probably go with Cherise Udell. Cherise is the founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air—a group of hundreds of mothers who "use the power of moms to clean up Utah’s dirty air." I had …

July 13, 2011

Budget Hijack Is Avant-Garde Politics

By Sam Edmondson  /  Washington, D.C. Office

A thousand political fires are burning in Washington, D.C., as members of the House of Representatives hijack the budgeting process. They aim to torch critical environmental safeguards—from endangered species protections to standards that keep our air and water clean. Their strategy? Since Congress has to pass a spending bill that funds government agencies—the EPA, Forest …

July 5, 2011

This Is Your Brain on Dirty Air… Any Questions?

By Sam Edmondson

Remember the anti-drug commercial where illicit drugs (played by butter) fried a brain (played by an egg)? Over the action, a gravelly voice intoned “This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” Those PSAs were a fixture of my childhood. Now, well into adulthood, I wonder if it is perhaps time for …

June 24, 2011

Instead of Saving Lives, Obama Chooses Delay

By Sam Edmondson

Imagine two tiny figures perched on a politician’s shoulders—one scientific, the other political. The scientist whispers in the politician’s ear: “You can save 6,500 lives every year with these health protections!” The tiny politician counters, “You can save those lives, but who will save you from the powerful industry lobbyists outside your door?” So with …

June 16, 2011

Pushing Pyromania

By Sam Edmondson  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Not all burning is bad. For example, campfires rule—when they are done sensitively. I don’t mean with tenderness, but rather with attention paid to the ecosystem and the importance of the fallen wood within it. Those fires bring light, heat and comfort to our small corners of the wild. But in other corners of the …