A Mother’s Day wish: A cleaner Mother Earth
As Mother’s Day approaches, I’ve been thinking about all the ways in which I tried over the years to protect the health and well-being of my children. Even now that they’re grown, I’m assiduously practicing physical distancing in this time of COVID-19, which is particularly challenging with the arrival of a new grandchild.
How long will it be before I can safely meet the tiny human? The circumstances tug at my heart.
I have tried to pass on to my children and grandchildren my love of nature and the outdoors, teaching them to garden, encouraging camping and hik- ing, showing them how nature can offer peace, inspiration, challenge and connectedness with the earth.
Especially in a time of sheltering in place, the ability to walk outside and breathe fresh air and watch the earth explode with new growth is critical to our mental and public health.
Sadly, the deteriorating quality of the air we breathe is an obstacle to our children safely experiencing our planet’s incredible beauty. Now, when more than ever we need the outdoors as a respite from being cooped up inside, we face increased challenges, both natural and made by man.
Climate change will increase smog in urban areas like the three cities of our own Lehigh Valley. Children suffer most from smog pollution, which triggers asthma and reduces lung function, sensitivity to irritants and allergens, and chest pain, coughing, and nausea — even in healthy children.
Add the threats from extreme weather, heat, allergies and insect-borne diseases and I worry about the quality of life our children and grandchildren are coping with not just in the future, but right now.
The unexpected onslaught of COVID-19 further emphasizes the risk of not dealing with air quality at every turn. Harvard Medical School’s study released April 5 draws a direct link between dirty air and the risk of death or serious illness from COVID-19. An increase of just 1 microgram per cubic meter of the fine particulate matter known as PM 2.5 means an 8% increase in the death rate from COVID-19.
This underscores three important points. First, we cannot wait to tackle air pollution until a virus shows up that attacks the respiratory system. We must constantly improve air quality to be ready for these attacks.
Second, although children are not the primary target of this virus, they may be the target of the next one. And whether COVID-19 targets children or seniors, we have a communal responsibility to provide a clean environment that gives everyone a fighting chance against disease.
Third, this study’s findings reinforce what we’ve known for years, that those who live in areas with the worst air quality are the most susceptible to respiratory illness. That generally means urban areas where 80% of Americans live. At greatest risk are those in poverty who cannot get out of harm’s way. They live near highways and dirty power plants because that’s where the most affordable housing is.
We have seen the current administration roll back air quality regulations that its own Environmental Protection Agency admits will lead to increased premature deaths from respiratory disease. The recently finalized standard weakening regulations on automobile tailpipe emissions includes an admission that the changes will lead to 444-1,000 premature deaths per year from increased air pollution.
The EPA also acknowledged that the equally deleterious weakening of regulations last year on the pollution emitted from coal-fired power plants was likely to lead to 1,400 additional early deaths per year.
I don’t want that future — I don’t want that present — for my children and grandchildren. These are not unavoidable catastrophes. We can control this.
Luckily, we have some incredible fighters in office now like Reps. Matt Cartwright and Susan Wild who have voted to put the U.S. back in the Paris Climate Agreement and have advocated for clean energy that will deliver not only clean air but also a healthy economy to our children and grandchildren. We need for them to keep fighting for us and to convince their colleagues in Congress to join them.
This Mother’s Day will present challenges for all us mothers for so many reasons. Begging for clean air for our children and grandchildren should not be one of them.
Andrea Wittchen of Lower Saucon Township is principal and co-founder of iSpring Associates, a sustainability consulting firm based in the Lehigh Valley.