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Ozone Action Days Kick-off
05/28/1996| Carol M. Browner Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Ozone Action Days Kick-off Baltimore, MD Prepared for Delivery May 28, 1996 It is a pleasure to be here with Gov. Glendening, Secretary Nishida, and business, environmental, and community leaders. Improving the quality of the air we breathe is a priority for the Clinton Administration. There is no better way to reduce air pollution and protect our health than for communities to join together. Working together, government, business, and citizens can take simple, common-sense steps to ensure that all of us will breathe easier this summer. Here in Baltimore and in cities across the country, ozone, or smog, is a significant danger to public health. Smog is a particular risk to children, to the elderly, and to those with respiratory ailments. Across this country, one American in three lives in an area where the air is too polluted to meet health standards. Asthma is on the rise. There is no doubt in my mind that a fully informed, fully involved local community is essential if we are to solve environmental problems. So I commend the manufacturers, the power companies, the grocery stores, the banks, the business leaders, environmental leaders, community leaders, and government leaders who are joining together today to make changes in everyday business operations and to educate the public about what they can do, both at home and at work, to ensure the air is fit to breathe. Across this country, communities, government, and industry are joining together as you are today, working together to reduce air pollution. Together, we have made great progress. Since 1990, 50 million Americans in 55 cities are breathing cleaner air -- air that meets federal health standards. And under President Clinton's leadership, in this Administration we can point to the biggest drop in toxic air pollution in U.S. history. The Clinton Administration is committed to continuing the progress -- to protect where we live and how we live -- to protect our air, our water, our land, our health, our children's future. Over the past two years, we have experienced an unprecedented Congressional assault on environmental protection. In the battle over the budget, in the battle over the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws, the President stood firm for public health and environmental protection. As a result, vital protections are in place and will remain in place. Now, the President has called on all Americans to come together, to meet America's challenge on the environment, to restore the bipartisan commitment to public health and the environment that served this nation so well over the past generation. By joining together, we can protect our health and the natural resources we all share -- and all of us can enjoy a safe, healthy summer. |
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