Environmental Leader Joins Lawsuit Against EPA

Jesse N. Marquez has joined several other organizations including Coalition for a Safe Environment, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, Communities for a Better Environment, and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles in a lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency for their failure to update quality air standards over the last 13 years when Marquez says the nation is in dire need of air quality reform.

Carbon monoxide has been proven to be lethal at high dosages and has been linked to several prominent birth defects even at lower levels. The Environmental Protection Agency, according to Marquez and Philip Huang from Communities for a Better Environment, is supposed to update their clean air standards every five years according to the Federal Clean Air Act and have no done so since August of 1994, almost 13 years ago.

Marquez, talking about this dire situation, compares the United States' carbon monoxide standards to an 8-track player, calling them "outdated" and urging the United States to "...update and strengthen these standards to protect our children, our communities, and environment." Carbon monoxide is a serious environmental problem that has been linked to cardiovascular conditions as well as problems with the nervous system and childhood development.

Carbon monoxide also contributes to climate change in the build-up of smog, which occurs when the chemical reacts with sunlight in the environment. It has been found that carbon monoxide levels greater than 1.4 parts per million are harmful to developing fetuses and that current standards are allowing these levels to reach dizzying heights of almost 9 parts per million. No standards are in effect to limit this problem, part of the reason for this lawsuit against the United States EPA, which has failed to react to the problem.