E.P.A. sued Friday

On Friday, eleven U.S. states joined forces to sue the E.P.A. due in large to the agency's failures to tighten air quality standards involving fine particulate matter. New York City, one of the eleven states, is blaming the pollution for increasing the risk of early death, heart attacks, and emergency room visits, especially those of whom suffer from asthma. The E.P.A., who originally postponed revising the AQ standards last fall, claims they are still "continuing to work" on proposing new standards. As of today, it has been six years since the standards have been revised, and as present levels of air pollutants including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and ozone, to list a few, are on the rise, I feel it is crucial those standards be revised. For this reason, I am in support of the legal matters which are being taken, however I fear the strong opposition from the Republican party (whom fear that stricter AQ regulations will only serve to drive up energy costs and thus hurt economic growth), might complicate the process. In contrast to the Republican party, I think this revision is absolutely necessary, especially as public health is at risk. If AQ standards remain the same, and human health continues to suffer, I think it can only be expected that the government will find more and more people seeking medical help, and thus putting a damper on economic growth. 

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