Advocacy Project: Letter to Elected Official

Dec 11, 2011
Senator Al Franken
U.S Senate
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Vote YES on H.R. 2609: Enhancing Liveability of All Americans Act of 2011.

Passing the proposed bill will reduce the amount of pollution in our air and will positively impact the lives of all Americans. As a health educator and citizen, I believe that we can improve our air quality by reducing toxins that we as citizens emit into our environment. It is our way of living that needs to change if we want to breathe clean air.

The World Health Organization states that 2.4 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution. Breathing clean air is a necessity in order to live a healthy life. Having poor air quality has many negative health affects that can impact us for the rest of our lives. Air pollution can cause skin rashes, asthma, cough and throat irritation, headaches, kidney and liver damage, cancer, nervous system damage, and birth defects. There can be some very serious health problems because of poor air quality, which means more trips to the doctors and an increase in the cost of health care. The US EPA estimates that a proposed set of changes in diesel engine technology could result in 12,000 fewer premature mortalities, 15,000 fewer heart attacks, 6,00 fewer emergency room visits by children with asthma, and 8,900 fewer respiratory-related hospital admissions each year in the United States. If we improve the quality of the air we breathe, we will improve our health as individuals and as a country.

Opponents of this bill might say that it is their right to drive a big, pollutive truck, and use as much heat or water in their house as they want. They might say that it is the factory's that our polluting our world, but we as individuals are contributing to the poor air quality concern in the U.S as well. It is everyone's right to have clean air to breathe and have the opportunity to live a healthy life.

I hope that this letter has helped to inform you of the air quality issue the U.S is currently dealing with. I am asking you to please take a moment to think about our rights as humans to have clean air to breathe. The time is now to act and vote YES to H.R. 2609. I am willing to help in anyway I can and I can be reached at 555-555-1212 or by email at breatheeasy@cleanair.com for any additional information you may need.

Thank-you

Haley Irwin