Public health groups launching campaign to defend EPA climate rules

A coalition of public health organizations in the coming weeks plans to step up efforts to oppose legislation that would block or delay Environmental Protection Agency climate rules.

The American Lung Association recently hired Peter Iwanowicz, a former New York state environmental official, to head up a new campaign to pressure lawmakers to reject efforts to limit EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Iwanowicz is working to build a coalition of public health groups to inform lawmakers about the health risks of increased levels of pollutants like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

"We want to ensure that members on the hill and their staff understand the Clean Air Act and its value for public health," Iwanowicz said.

The campaign will focus in part on the healthcare costs associated with high levels of air pollution. "Ozone could have you reaching for the asthma inhaler," Iwanowicz siad. "For those who unfortunately are hospitalized due to an asthma attack, those healthcare costs are pretty tremendous."

The campaign comes as Republicans and some centrist Democrats are mulling legislation to limit EPA's climate authority. In the most recent development on this front, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) floated a discussion draft Wednesday night that would permanently preempt EPA's pending climate rules.