Clean Air, Healthy Families News Releases

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued new public health standards to protect everyone from emissions of mercury and other toxics from the nation’s dirtiest power plants.  

Today Environment Massachusetts released a new report showing that the Boston area ranks as the 3rd smoggiest metropolitan area in the state.  Smog is a harmful air pollutant that leads to asthma attacks and exacerbates respiratory illnesses, especially among children and the elderly. The new report, Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Air Days in 2010 and 2011 shows that in total, residents in the Boston area were exposed to air quality that made it dangerous to breathe on 3 days last year.  Also, this summer alone, residents in the Boston area have already been alerted to unhealthy air on 8 days.

As states face tight budgets in the economic downturn, a new report released by Environment America today draws on the experience of 15 states in securing reliable funding for open space programs. Among its key recommendations, Preserving America's Natural Heritage embraces bringing preservation measures directly to the voters – as is happening this fall in Minnesota, Ohio, Colorado, Georgia, and Florida.

Boston- Late last night the Environmental Bond (now bill H5005) was passed by the House. During his speech introducing the bill, Representative Frank Smizik, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, expressed his appreciation to the Coalition for the Environmental Bond, a coalition of over 260 organizations and businesses across the state, including Environment Massachusetts, that have been working for the bill's passage.