1. Our kids are hurt by dirty air. We need to protect them, like we do by buckling them up in car seats.
The numbers are staggering. Each day in America:
*40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma.
*30,000 people have an asthma attack.
*5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma.
*1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma.
*11 people die from asthma.
These are our neighbors, friends, families, and fellow Americans. Millions of children each day are exposed to mercury and other toxins in air pollution everyday. Mercury emissions have never been regulated, and mercury exposure hurts our families. At high levels, it can cause damage to the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs.
According to Moms Clean Air Force, "Methylmercury can also damage our genes, and cause cancer. Elemental and oxidized mercury have adverse effects on enzymes associated with thyroid function; reproductive health; genes, respiratory system; gastrointestinal (digestion) system; liver; immune system; and the skin. Even at very low levels, inorganic mercury exposure can cause a variety of allergic reactions."
We save the lives of thousands of kids each year by enforcing the Mercury Air Toxic and the Cross State Pollution rules. We can spare parents more trips to the emergency room, decrease sick days and improve school attendance. We can spare kids needless suffering. And what parent doesn't want to do that? For our own kids, and for everyone else's, too.
2. Someone has to fight for those who can't.
Our kids are too busy being kids to fight for clean air, as they should be. They look to us, their caregivers, to protect them. To let them grow up in a world where corporations poison them, and stand by while they do so is unforgivable.
Our children are the most vulnerable-- their bodies are developing at such a rapid rate that their exposures to toxins are more harmful than to our adult bodies.
We fight for clean air for those who are suffering in our hospitals, in our nursing homes, in their own homes, who can't. Polluters have billions of dollars. We have empathy, love of humanity, and kindness on our side.
3. Sometimes David wins.
We are up against billionaires. Companies who profit from polluting our air and have ultimate access to politicians and lobbyists. They have slick ad campaigns that wrongly equate new clean air standards with the loss of jobs.
Thankfully, what we lack in dollars, we have loads of passion for protecting our children, and doing right by society's most vulnerable. Oh, and we have a wicked command of social media tools. We've gotten BPA out of bottles, supported companies who are transparent, and educated those who are not. We have a voice (an outdoor one) and we plan to use it, no matter what are pockets are or are not lined with.
4. Our very future depends on it.
Our children will inherit the world's most vexing problems. How to stop the progression of climate change. How to provide clean drinking water to millions of people. How to promote peace and and fight disease-- to name a few.
We need our brightest minds, our most creative, and our most visionary-- the currently developing minds-- to help our society in these rapidly changing and confusing times.
Allowing our kids to develop emotionally and academically to their highest potential is what we owe the future, and they can't if they are constantly exposed to harmful air quality everyday.
5. Clean air is a basic human right.
Our babies are being born pre-polluted. Currently, 1 in 10 American women of childbearing age have potentially dangerous levels of mercury in their bodies. This equates to at least 410,000 US children are exposed to dangerous levels of mercury in the womb each year. How can we let this happen?
Supplying our population with clean air is a basic human right that everyone deserves.
6. These beloved faces, and the faces of all children, everywhere.
How can you help? Join the Moms Clean Air Force, where I am a proud member and blogger. We fight for clean air by using our collective voice and parent power. Support politicians that stand up for kids and families, not for polluters and their lobbyists. And raise your voice in support of cleaner air standards everywhere you can.
Katy Farber blogs about healthy living and green parenting at Non-Toxic Kids, is the author of two recent education books, and recently released an ebook called Eat Non-Toxic: a manual for busy parents.
twitter: @non_toxic_kids
facebook: facebook.com/nontoxickids
Related Posts
The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of MomsRising.org.
MomsRising.org strongly encourages our readers to post comments in response to blog posts. We value diversity of opinions and perspectives. Our goals for this space are to be educational, thought-provoking, and respectful. So we actively moderate comments and we reserve the right to edit or remove comments that undermine these goals. Thanks!