President Biden Strengthens Air Standards to Reduce Pollution and Help Americans Breathe Easier

Washington, D.C. – Today, President Biden and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced tough new air pollution standards to protect Americans from corporate polluters. Today’s action lowers the amount of small particle pollution, like soot and smoke, allowed in the air we breathe. President Biden has done more for climate action than any president in history and the EPA’s rule today continues his strong record of holding polluters accountable.

In response to President Biden’s strengthened air pollution standards, Climate Power executive director Lori Lodes released the following statement:

“President Biden is holding corporate polluters accountable for harming our health and fueling the climate crisis. His action will be especially impactful in communities of color and low-income areas that have paid the health and economic price of corporate greed for far too long. When Donald Trump was president, he filled the EPA with oil and coal lobbyists and weakened clean air standards. President Biden has spent three years cleaning up Trump’s mess, and America can’t afford another Trump term.”

During his disastrous presidency, Trump gutted critical protections that made our air and water cleaner, staffed key climate policy positions with fossil fuel lobbyists, and gave fossil fuel corporations $25 billion in additional tax breaks.

Soot pollution is one of the nation’s most widespread and deadly pollutants, and the EPA’s new air standard champions the communities most impacted. By 2032, the EPA estimates that this stronger air pollution standard will help avoid up to 4,500 premature deaths, 5,700 cases of asthma, and 290,000 lost workdays annually. Additionally, the updated standard could result in public health net benefits of up to $46 billion.