The Golden State claimed all five of the top slots for the highest air pollution in the American Lung Association's 2014 State of the Air Report.

In December 2006, Earthjustice challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to strengthen national standards for airborne particulates, despite a nearly unanimous recommendation from its own Clean Air Science Advisory Committee to do so. Particulate matter (PM) is one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution as small particles of soot, smoke, metals and other…

Today’s decision is a victory for public health that will save tens of thousands of lives and more than a billion dollars in health related costs every year.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted protections that will slash the amount of soot allowed in our air, improving air quality for millions of Americans. This move by the EPA comes in response to legal action filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the American Lung Association and the National Parks Conservation Association asking…

“This morning’s testimony was so moving, I wish I’d had tissues with me,” said one speaker. “It never occurred to me that I would need them at an EPA public hearing.”

The historical significance of the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently proposed new limits on fine particle pollution, colloquially called soot, wasn’t lost on a number of editorial pages.

Agency legally required to act on health protections for deadly soot pollution

According to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 160,000 American lives were saved in 2010 by the Clean Air Act’s health protections. Four decades of clean air protections have made the U.S. stronger, healthier and more prosperous.

Environmental Protection Agency must consider stronger standards to protect Americans

Comments on proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate pollution

Lawsuit seeks stronger protections against harmful airborne pollution

EPA maintains nearly decade old annual pollution levels that have been linked to thousands of deaths annually

EPA adopts particulate matter standards that reflect politics, not medical science

Proposed standards and exemptions are illegal, industry-driven