Cross post from The Pop Tort by Emily.
Great news for people, animals and other organisms trying to respirate!
This week, a U.S. Court of Appeals decision threw out a Bush administration rule that exempted major air polluters from EPA monitoring and prevented states and local agencies from enacting better monitoring instead.
Given the EPA's lackluster performance - the decision finds that the agency "failed to fix inadequate monitoring requirements ... and prohibited states and local authorities from doing so" - we can all breathe a sigh of relief (hah!) that better monitoring is on its way.
And a tip of the hat to the air-protecting rockstars at EarthJustice for expertly using the civil justice system. As Earthjustice attorney Keri Powell put it: "This is a huge victory for everyone who breathes. We can't have strong enforcement of our clean air laws unless we know what polluters are putting into the air."
For more information on this case and others, check out CJ&D's recent study: How the Civil Justice System Protects Environmental Health
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