EPA fails to update air pollution limits while mountain of evidence of health harms continues to grow
Opinion | Trump EPA needs to comply with air pollution limits
This op-ed was originally published in The Cap Times.
BY Vijay Limaye & Jonathan Patz
A coalition of 10 states, including Wisconsin, is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for unlawfully failing to implement updated national air pollution limits meant to reduce dangerous soot exposure.
The lawsuit, filed April 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, asks the court to order the EPA to issue the overdue new standards within 150 days, stating that delays increase the likelihood of preventable health risks and fail to address the intent of the Clean Air Act. In addition to California and Wisconsin, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Vermont and the District of Columbia joined the lawsuit.
When it comes to air pollution that harms our health, one of the top offenders is fine particles (commonly known as soot).
Fine particle pollution is especially dangerous because it can bypass our bodies’ natural defense mechanisms (e.g., coughing and sneezing), penetrate deep into our lungs, and enter the bloodstream and vital organs. Decades of epidemiological research links fine particle pollution to a range of serious and sometimes fatal health problems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ischemic heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.
Studies have also found that soot exposure during pregnancy poses significant risks to maternal and fetal health, linking it to reduced birth length, low birth weight and premature birth.
Small children are especially vulnerable to the impacts of fine particles. Soot exposure in children is linked to reduced brain volume, neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD and autism, and lower IQ.
At very high soot exposure levels, studies have shown increased mental health issues, including anxiety, personality disorders and suicidal ideation. The harms of soot pollution are not only burdensome to human health; they also trigger billions of dollars in economic damages across the country each year from hospitalizations, emergency room visits and early deaths.
Soot comes from many sources. Industrial facilities, power plants and motor vehicles that burn fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — directly emit fine particles as well as precursor gases such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) that can form soot after they’re emitted into the atmosphere. Other key sources include wildfire smoke, wood stoves and biomass burning.
Agricultural activities can also contribute to air quality issues. Ammonia from fertilizers and animal waste can combine with other pollutants to form fine particles.
The U.S. has come a long way in cleaning up air pollution, progress achieved by the Clean Air Act, a comprehensive law last revised in 1990 that requires air monitoring, establishes health-based pollution limits and deploys a range of policies to support emission reductions.
EPA, our country’s premier environmental regulator, leads implementation of this landmark law in close partnership with state environmental agencies. Emissions of key air pollutants have declined about 78% from 1970 to 2023, and EPA has determined that the 1990 revisions to the Clean Air Act have produced societal benefits that outweigh compliance costs by a factor of 30 to one.
Other work finds that the Clean Air Act resulted in up to 370,000 fewer premature deaths, 189,000 fewer hospitalizations, and more than 8 million fewer lost school days in 2020. According to EPA, the economic benefits of these health benefits totaled nearly $2 trillion in 2020.
Importantly, our nation’s air quality gains have not come at the expense of economic growth. Cleaner air means healthier workers and families and more livable conditions for all.
Unfortunately, the already substantial health burden of air pollution is worsening due to climate change. The science is clear that hotter and drier conditions are increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires, which emit fine particles that can be carried hundreds of miles on the wind, impairing air quality across regions far removed from where pollution was emitted. Wildfire smoke threatens to reverse decades of progress on air quality in the U.S.
The current administration’s efforts to prop up the fossil fuel industry through deregulatory action is slowing progress. The recent lawsuit is merely asking the EPA to comply with an implementation timeline required by the Clean Air Act.
Each day that passes without stronger air pollution limits means more dangerous and financially costly health problems endured by Americans from coast to coast. It’s past time for the administration to follow the law and the science. Doing so will help improve public health and welfare for all.
Vijay Limaye is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and a Researcher in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he leads applied research on the significant health-related financial costs of climate change in the U.S. and directs work to improve resilience to climate hazards in India.
Jonathan Patz is a Vilas distinguished professor and John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment at the Nelson Institute and Department of Population Health Services for the UW-Madison. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and former health co-chair for the first U.S. National Climate Assessment. He also served as a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.