For immediate release
Contact: Dave Perera
(202) 770-7899
dave.perera@mail.house.gov
REP. BARRAGÁN INVITES EPA SCIENCE ADVISOR WHO CLAIMED THE “AIR IS A LITTLE TOO CLEAN” TO TOUR HER DISTRICT
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-San Pedro) today sent a letter to Mr. Robert F. Phalen, Ph.D., a newly appointed member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Scientific Advisory Board, inviting him to tour her district, one of the most polluted in the country. The letter is in response to Mr. Phalen’s publicly stated position that “modern air is a little too clean for optimum health.”
In the letter, the Congresswoman invited Mr. Phalen, as well as EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, to visit her district and meet with the many families whose children suffer from respiratory issues resulting from poor air quality.
“If Mr. Phalen truly believes that modern air is too clean, then he should visit with the frontline communities in my district that breathe in the pollution caused by urban oil drilling and the huge volumes of industrial traffic and emissions surrounding them,” said Rep. Barragán. “I’m confident that after seeing my district and talking to families suffering from dirty air he will reconsider his statement that our air is too clean.”
“Our children are breathing in all this pollution and suffering the negative health impacts such as asthma, bronchitis, and other serious respiratory problems—some even have to go so far as to walk around their neighborhoods wearing an inhaler around their necks,” Rep. Barragán added. “Research has clearly demonstrated that cleaner air is better for kids’ lungs, not the other way around.”
Read the full letter below:
[embeddoc url=”https://barragan.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/11-14-EPA-Robert-Phalen-invite.pdf” download=”all”]
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Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington.