The Fight for Clean Air

Community and Environmental Groups petition the Environmental Protection Agency for reconsideration of pollution exceptions in the Final National Air Standards for Oil Refineries.

Earthjustice, representing the Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility, West Harlem Environmental Action, Appalachian Mountain Club, and the National Parks Conservation Association, has filed suit to challenge the national ozone standards adopted in October 2015. The EPA’s standards are weaker than what medical experts have called for.

Earthjustice representing American Lung Association, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Physicians for Social Responsibility filed to oppose a major coal company’s challenge to stronger national ozone standards adopted last month. The EPA’s new standards were years overdue, and though they are weaker than the science-backed standards called for by medical experts, they are more protective than the standards they replaced and will help prevent many hundreds of hospital visits, asthma attacks, and deaths.