Pushing to ensure cleaner air for all on this International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

The Clean Air Task Force calls on the U.S. EPA to update national ambient standards for ozone and fine particulate matter and urges Congress to provide $500 million to modernize the air quality monitoring system. The statement highlights that while combined emissions of six key pollutants dropped by 78 percent between 1970 and 2020, low-income and minority communities remain disproportionately burdened. It further emphasizes that climate change exacerbates air quality issues, such as increasing ground-level ozone and wildfire-driven particulate pollution, and advocates for a synergistic approach to reducing both greenhouse gases and conventional pollutants.

• The United States has seen significant reductions in air pollution since 1970, with combined emissions of six key pollutants decreasing by 78 percent between 1970 and 2020. Specifically, national average ozone concentrations fell by 25 percent from 1990 to 2020, and annual average fine particulate matter concentrations declined by 41 percent between 2000 and 2020.
• Power plant emissions of air toxics, such as mercury, decreased by an estimated 96% between 2010 and 2017. Additionally, the number of unhealthy air days in 35 major U.S. cities fell from over 2,000 per year in 2002 to fewer than 1,000 per year between 2013 and 2020.

APA

Hashimoto, H. (2021). Pushing to ensure cleaner air for all on this International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2021/09/international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies/

Chicago

Hashimoto, Hayden. Pushing to ensure cleaner air for all on this International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. Clean Air Task Force, 2021. https://www.catf.us/2021/09/international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Hashimoto |first1=Hayden |title=Pushing to ensure cleaner air for all on this International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=7 September 2021 |url=https://www.catf.us/2021/09/international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{hashimoto2021pushing, author = {Hashimoto, Hayden}, title = {{Pushing to ensure cleaner air for all on this International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.catf.us/2021/09/international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }