Yesterday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. During her testimony, she spoke about the Clean Air Act and EPA’s role to protect Americans from unsafe pollutants while also ensuring consistent standards for business.
First enacted in 1970, the Clean Air Act defines the EPA’s ability to ensure the safety of the air we breathe. This law helps prevent asthma, lung disease, and respiratory sickness – it saves lives and even yields economic payoffs.
Here are some of the real benefits of the Clean Air Act:
- 160,000 Lives Saved Last Year
In the year 2010 alone, clean air regulations are estimated to have saved over 160,000 lives.
- More than 100,000 Hospital Visits Avoided Last Year
In 2010, clean air standards prevented millions of cases of respiratory problems, including bronchitis and asthma. It enhanced productivity by preventing millions of lost workdays, and kept kids healthy and in school, avoiding millions of lost school days due to respiratory illness and other diseases caused or exacerbated by air pollution.
- 60% Less Pollution in Our Air, Strong Economic Growth and Lower Electricity Prices
Since 1970, the Clean Air Act has reduced key air pollutants that cause smog and particulate pollution by more than 60%. At the same time the economy more than tripled. And Since the Clean Air Act Amendments in 1990, electricity production is up and prices are down. In 2009, electric utilities delivered 33 percent more electricity to U.S. households and businesses than in 1990, while nationwide electricity prices were 10 percent lower.
- Benefits Far Out Weigh Costs
Over its forty-year span, the benefits of the Clean Air Act – in the form of longer lives, healthier kids, greater workforce productivity, and ecosystem protections – outweigh the costs by more than 30 to 1.