As someone who’s suffered from allergies all my life (I also had what they call “cough variant asthma”), I sometimes have to struggle to breathe — not as much as I used to, but it’s still there. And one of my kids suffered from childhood asthma, although he’s since outgrown it.
Gasping for breath scares the hell out of me, so to me, clean air is a very serious issue. And that’s why I was hoping, when NJ Gov. Chris Christie was taken to the hospital last week with an asthma attack, that he would rethink refusing to sign onto the regional emissions control pact with other area states. (Since I live a stone’s throw across the river from New Jersey and all.)
I see that Environment New Jersey also took note of Christie’s hospitalization. Doug O’Malley, their field director, released this statement:
We offer our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Governor Christie. An asthma attack can be a life-threatening event and that is a fact of life for over 163,000 New Jersey children who live with this chronic disease. We hope that the Governor will be sympathetic to the concerns of those children when it comes to measures to protect our kids from dangerous air pollution.
We encourage Governor Christie to support the Clean Air Promise launched by the League of Women Voters this week and to promise that he will protect our kids from dangerous air pollution. The new LWV campaign ad and Promise can be found at http://www.peoplenotpolluters.org/
Everybody knows at least one person who has trouble breathing in polluted air. For them and everybody else, go sign that petition!
Relax Suze, we can all choke to fucking death together…….I suffer with breathing issues as well!
Thank you for highlighting this important issue. Air pollution can cause harm to even the healthiest individuals. Children are among the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution, because their tiny lungs are still developing, and they often spend more active time outdoors than their adult counterparts. Breathing air pollution can impact children by:
-Causing shortness of breath; chest pain when inhaling; and wheezing and coughing.
-Triggering asthma attacks and increasing the severity of these attacks.
-Increasing the risk of emergency room visits and hospital admissions for children with asthma.
-Impairing lung function and impeding proper lung development.
-Causing premature births and increased mortality in children and infants.
-Increasing susceptibility to respiratory infections and pulmonary inflammation.
Continued efforts to weaken or ignore the basic public health protections guaranteed by the Clean Air Act will result in devastating consequences causing greatest harm to children and those living with lung disease.
Follow Susie’s advice and sign that petition!!