According to a 2011 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 54% of our children suffer from at least one of twenty chronic health conditions including asthma, which affects 1 in 12 American kids.
That’s why Stephanie Blank and I started Mothers and Others for Clear Air sixteen years ago: to champion hard-fought, hard-won environmental protections that keep our children and our loved ones safe.
Because their bodies are still developing, children are the most susceptible to complications from dirty air and water. Not only do they eat and drink more for their size, but they also breathe at a faster rate, which according to a 2019 Harvard report, increases their exposure to dangerous air pollutants that can damage their little lungs.
Despite empirical evidence surrounding air pollution and public health, this administration has undertaken 27 different environmental rollbacks that weaken protections for air quality standards.
We are literally making our kids sick and robbing them of their health with this perfect storm of polluting industries with too much power and regulatory agencies that have seen air and water pollution run rampant in our most vulnerable communities and allowed harmful chemical additives in our food and other products to skyrocket.
What I want more than anything—when all is said and done—is to look my own three children in the eyes and tell them I did everything in my power to ensure a healthy livable planet where all children could not only survive, but thrive…
A collaborative documentary film from Mothers & Others for Clean Air made in partnership with Climate Listening Project and Narrative Healthcare at Lenoir Rhyne University
In this segment, Dr. Anne Mellinger-Birdsong, Medical Education Advisor for Mothers & Others for Clean Air, talks about the critical threats air pollution and climate change pose and their impacts on human health.
Premiering Oct. 20th at 8PM EST. Join Us!
The clock is ticking. We are the last generation who can prevent irreversible planetary harm. We have borne witness to the degradation of our democratic values and our environment, to the point that we are losing our health.
According to the 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have until 2030 to reduce emissions and bring global temperatures down to pre-industrial levels.
Climate change is certainly fueling extreme weather events ravaging our country. A two-decade megadrought and extreme heat have set California ablaze, a powerful derecho (a large fast-moving complex of thunderstorms with powerful straight-line winds that cause widespread destruction) devastated Iowa, and Hurricane Laura is one of the most powerful storms to hit the Gulf Coast in decades.
And yet in the face of these crises, this administration has extricated the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and continues to roll back more than 100 lifesaving environmental regulations meant to protect our freedom from polluting industry that destroy our health in the name of profit.
The Trump Administration is Reversing 100 Environmental Rules
Nearly 70 environmental rules and regulations have been officially reversed, revoked, or otherwise rolled back. More than 30 additional rollbacks are still in progress.
We cannot continue down this path. We must not support dirty industry that indiscriminately pollutes the environment to pad their bottom line.
Environmental protections are not red tape, but this administration seems to think so and continues to prop up the dying fossil industry by handing out subsidies north of $700 bil and opening up pristine lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for extraction. Not to mention current EPA guidelines exempt companies from consequences for polluting air and water, so long as they can attribute it to the pandemic.
Pope Francis says destroying the environment is a sin.
The United States Supreme Court says it’s illegal.
We used to agree on basic science and public health protections; people seem to forget that a Republican created the Environmental Protection Agency, and conservatives at the time supported the idea that government had a role in stewardship of the planet we all share.
Now, not so much.
There are currently 130 members of Congress who have publically doubted or denied climate change.
Let that sink in.
We must VOTE OUT these candidates who don’t believe in BASIC SCIENCE.
We owe it to our kids to do all we can to elect candidates who will champion hard-fought hard-won environmental protections.
The only way out of this mess is to strategically invest in our nation’s leadership.
Democrats need a net gain of three seats to Flip the Senate if they also win the White House (since the vice president would break a tie) or four seats if Trump wins reelection.
We MUST empower key candidates across the map whom we know will make decisions based on fact, with whom we can entrust the future.
But the hard truth is that only the best-funded candidates will make it to Capitol Hill. Any and all donations matter.
Change is not out of reach…
To Flip the Senate we MUST:
Select a candidate to learn more or contribute to their key bids for Senate, or check out the link below to explore other environmental candidates.
Our attitudes and action on climate are contagious.
Our young people who can’t vote yet are depending on us to preserve their life support systems.
“I Am Greta”
Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg leads a global movement on the climate change crisis. To be released on October 16, 2020.
17-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg started spending her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on climate change by holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate) and soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities.
Upcoming Events in Support of Key Congressional Races
Green House 2020
Thursday, Sept. 24th
4:00PM EST – 5:00PM EST / 1:00 PST – 2:00 PST
Join me and Rutherford, Elaine and John French, former president of the Wilderness Society Bill Meadows, philanthropist Tom Steyer, and others as we come together for the benefit of women of color in 5 crucial House races including Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, FL-26, Xochitl Torres Small, NM-2, Lucy McBath, GA-6, Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, AZ-6, and Candace Valenzuela, TX-24.
Green the Senate, Save the Planet
Thursday, Oct. 8th
8:00PM EST / 5:00PM EST
Join Paul Simon for a special musical performance and conversation with key Senate candidates Jon Ossoff (GA), Raphael Warnock (GA), Theresa Greenfield (IA), Barbara Bollier (KS) Sara Gideon (ME), Gov. Steve Bullock (MT), Cal Cunningham (NC), Jamie Harrison (SC) about how we can ensure a safe and healthy planet for all.
Let 2020 become the zenith of democracy.
This is our Now or Never Moment.
Visit the sites below to ensure your vote is counted by checking your voter registration, applying for an absentee ballot, receiving election reminders, and learning about volunteer opportunities in your area.
