Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell launched a sneak attack on the Clean Air Act. Senator Jay Rockefeller decided follow Senator McConnell's lead and got in on the sneak attack act by resurfacing his own long-languishing EPA-blocking bill.
The American Lung Association (ALA) and other health groups have been opposing efforts like these that would "Strip away sensible Clean Air Act protections that safeguard Americans and their families from air pollution."
One consequence of stripping away our clean air protections is that you end up with more polluted air. And that's not good for a lot of reasons, but i'm going to focus on asthma for the moment.
Senators who vote to block the EPA from reducing air pollution should know they are putting millions of Americans at risk for a wide range of health risks, including asthma from which 24 million Americans, including 7 million kids, suffer.
Here's a handy table of the number of adults and kids in each state estimated to have asthma. You might say these are the numbers of asthmatics that Senators represent.
Except of course, for those Senators that vote to block the EPA from updating clean air safeguards. In that case, consider this a table showing the number of adults and kids that can expect to suffer more from asthma because of their Senator's vote to block EPA.
|
State |
Total Estimated Asthma Prevalence in State |
Pediatric Estimated Asthma Prevalence in District Counties |
Adult Estimated Asthma Prevalence in District Counties |
|
Alabama |
380,701 |
105,609 |
275,092 |
|
Alaska |
64,639 |
16,934 |
47,705 |
|
Arizona |
623,744 |
160,711 |
463,033 |
|
Arkansas |
243,164 |
66,125 |
177,039 |
|
California |
3,176,368 |
881,543 |
2,294,825 |
|
Colorado |
412,764 |
113,633 |
299,131 |
|
Connecticut |
309,452 |
76,458 |
232,994 |
|
Delaware |
82,681 |
19,414 |
63,267 |
|
Florida |
1,320,883 |
376,950 |
943,933 |
|
Georgia |
840,511 |
239,936 |
600,575 |
|
Hawaii |
122,492 |
26,851 |
95,641 |
|
Idaho |
136,882 |
38,844 |
98,038 |
|
Illinois |
1,061,330 |
299,285 |
762,045 |
|
Indiana |
588,531 |
149,179 |
439,352 |
|
Iowa |
242,925 |
67,088 |
175,837 |
|
Kansas |
247,361 |
65,942 |
181,419 |
|
Kentucky |
408,844 |
94,897 |
313,947 |
|
Louisiana |
380,701 |
105,609 |
275,092 |
|
Maine |
132,150 |
25,877 |
106,273 |
|
Maryland |
528,367 |
126,197 |
402,170 |
|
Massachusetts |
619,089 |
134,335 |
484,754 |
|
Michigan |
969,032 |
225,007 |
744,025 |
|
Minnesota |
426,432 |
118,111 |
308,321 |
|
Mississippi |
224,388 |
72,177 |
152,211 |
|
Missouri |
511,717 |
133,807 |
377,910 |
|
Montana |
92,143 |
20,743 |
71,400 |
|
Nebraska |
136,619 |
42,082 |
94,537 |
|
Nevada |
227,358 |
62,865 |
164,493 |
|
New Hampshire |
132,835 |
27,616 |
105,219 |
|
New Jersey |
761,027 |
192,753 |
568,274 |
|
New Mexico |
172,777 |
47,296 |
125,481 |
|
New York |
1,730,047 |
414,951 |
1,315,096 |
|
North Carolina |
738,160 |
211,215 |
526,945 |
|
North Dakota |
52,862 |
13,467 |
39,395 |
|
Ohio |
1,089,365 |
257,027 |
832,338 |
|
Oklahoma |
327,956 |
85,291 |
242,665 |
|
Oregon |
332,522 |
81,671 |
250,851 |
|
Pennsylvania |
1,151,608 |
260,003 |
891,605 |
|
Rhode Island |
107,926 |
21,514 |
86,412 |
|
South Carolina |
381,609 |
100,371 |
281,238 |
|
South Dakota |
61,934 |
18,665 |
43,269 |
|
Tennessee |
562,637 |
139,185 |
423,452 |
|
Texas |
1,919,847 |
633,131 |
1,286,716 |
|
Utah |
237,422 |
79,982 |
157,440 |
|
Vermont |
60,219 |
12,138 |
48,081 |
|
Virginia |
715,645 |
171,632 |
544,013 |
|
Washington |
609,097 |
145,081 |
464,016 |
|
West Virginia |
173,330 |
36,352 |
136,978 |
|
Wisconsin |
525,265 |
123,734 |
401,531 |
|
Wyoming |
49,001 |
12,090 |
36,911 |