Newsletter Highlights

M&O Volunteer Training This Sunday, March 18

Posted on March 13, 2012 in Events

Every spring, summer and fall, Mothers & Others for Clean Air receives more invitations to participate in festivals than we can fulfill with our small staff. Would you like to learn more about the health effects of air pollution, how to reduce your family’s risk, and opportunities to improve the air we breathe? We will offer an informal training session this Sunday, March 18, at 3:00 pm in Decatur to teach you everything you need to know to help us staff the Mothers & Others for Clean Air exhibit table.

Please contact Rebecca (rebecca@mocleanair.org) for location details, and thank you!

TSPLOST Update: Air Quality and the Local 15%

Posted on March 13, 2012 in Transit

Last October the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable representing a 10-county area approved a final list of regional projects that contained roughly $3.2 billion for transit projects, $2.9 billion for road projects and a modest $24 million for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. This project list will be funded by 85% of the revenue from the Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) over a ten-year period, if voters approve this investment at the polls on July 31.

Air quality: The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has completed air quality modeling to evaluate the likely impact of the projects on metro Atlanta’s air quality. Air quality impacts assuming build-out of the projects in metro Atlanta’s existing long-range transportation plan were compared to air quality impacts assuming already planned projects PLUS the regional projects to be funded if the TSPLOST is passed by voters. ARC staff found a very modest positive air quality impact with the addition of the TSPLOST projects:
• 0.67 tons per day reduction in NOx, or nitrogen oxides (NOx combines with other compounds to form ground-level ozone)
• 0.03 tons per day reduction in primary particulate matter
• 600 tons per day reduction in carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas)

The carbon dioxide reduction that would be achieved with the TSPLOST projects is comparable to removing a total of 72,000 average length one-way car commuter trips.

View an interactive map with all the regional Atlanta TSPLOST projects, project fact sheets and more here.

Local governments get 15%: The project list discussed above will be funded by 85% of the revenue generated over a 10-year period, if voters approve the tax. As outlined in the Transportation Improvement Act (TIA), the remaining 15% in revenue will be distributed directly to counties and municipalities for use on eligible local transportation projects, at their discretion. Many cities and counties already are soliciting public input about transportation projects to be funded by the local 15%. Citizen input is critical to shaping the best possible project list for the local 15% portion of the TSPLOST revenue. CONTACT your city or county planning department to find out the best way to weigh in for clean air through alternative transportation investments!

City of Atlanta residents: Submit your comments by e-mail to tiacomments@atlantaga.gov or call 404-330-6145 by March 15, 2012.

Join M&O at Break The Cycle 7 on April 2

Posted on March 13, 2012 in Events

Join Mothers & Others for Clean Air and the Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) on Monday, April 2 at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health for the seventh annual Break the Cycle of Environmental Health Disparities conference. Dr. Robert Geller, Co-Director of PEHSU, and the M&O director will present on the environmental health impacts of school siting decisions. Student presentations at Break the Cycle 7 will include an analysis of traffic-based pollution and pediatric asthma in Durham, NC and the challenge of food deserts in Northwest Atlanta communities.

Review the conference announcement and a full list of presentation summaries.

Register for Break the Cycle 7.

Long-term Studies of Miners and Diesel Exposures Reveal High Lung Cancer Risk

Posted on March 13, 2012 in Reports

Two comprehensive studies were recently released after being kept under wraps for years due to industry legal challenges. The research looked at a group of 12,000 mining industry workers exposed to diesel carbon particles and found a three-fold increased risk of both lung cancer and premature mortality among the study sample. Furthermore, the researchers found that lifetime exposure to diesel exhaust in some U.S. urban areas with high levels of diesel carbon pollution could carry similar risks. Read more.

What can you do to reduce the public health risk from dirty diesel exhaust?

Act now to support full funding of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) in the federal FY 2013 budget. Instead of the $100 million per year authorized by Congress, the Obama Administration has recommended only $15 million for DERA funding for FY2013, clearly inadequate given the enormous health risks posed by diesel pollution. Contact your Congressional Representative and Senator today to urge full funding for DERA!