Tell EPA that Houston's smog problem is severe
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Houstonians should be able to enjoy our parks, pools and trails. We should be able to throw birthday parties outside and only worry about mosquitoes.
But all the smog in our air is threatening our health when we do. The Houston region has never met the federal health-based standards for smog, or ground-level ozone pollution. The American Lung Association has never given us a passing grade for ozone. This year, we got another "F." But our state environmental agency hasn't been doing much about it.
We need the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to say our smog problem is "severe" so the state will act. They need to hear from you by June 13 that you've had enough. You can tell them here. Or you can simply sign our petition, and we will deliver the letter below for you.
Why? Because in Houston, where all the industrial emissions mix with all the exhaust from our cars and trucks and react in the sun and heat, smog has been a severe problem for decades. It’s the worst during our long summers, when we want to be outside, swimming and walking, biking and barbecuing, and it’s the hardest on children and people who are exercising. Smog has been linked to asthma, heart failure, reduced lung development and early death. On smoggy days, emergency room trips tend to go up, causing us to miss work and school — and it’s only getting worse as our climate changes and our summers grow even hotter and longer.
Why now? This summer, the EPA is looking to redesignate the Houston region as being in "severe nonattainment" of federal health-based standards for ozone, developed in 2008. Houston is now designated as in "nonattainment." This downgrade would require the state of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to develop a plan that shows how they are going to cut this lung-burning pollution.
Houstonians already know the problem is severe. We feel the dirty haze in our throats and lungs and watch our children cough and wheeze. Smog season overlaps with hurricane season, leaving not a single month in Texas when our environment isn’t threatening our health and safety and the full development of our children.
The EPA needs to tell the state what we already know.
Sponsored by
To:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
From:
[Your Name]
RE: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0741.
The EPA should redesignate Houston as being in "severe nonattainment" for ground-level ozone pollution.
Because of the Houston region's commuting culture, heavy industry, busy port and hot, sunny climate, the smog problem is especially severe. It's only getting worse with climate change, as the summers grow longer and hotter, increasing the number of days every year when the formation of ozone becomes likely.
Houstonians know the problem is severe. Houstonians also know that this is an environmental justice issue. Black Houstonians have higher rates of hospitalizations because of asthma, according to the Houston Health Department. Children who attend predominantly Black Bruce Elementary have twice the rate of asthma as their peers in the Houston Independent School District.
According to the last two annual Houston Area Survey produced by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, Houstonians are increasingly concerned with public health and agree that government at all levels must do more to control pollution. We need EPA to redesignate Houston as being in "severe nonattainment" so that action is taken to cut emissions and help everyone lead healthier lives.