WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the First Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the President of the United States and the United States Congress as follows:

WHEREAS,  Maine families and businesses need healthy air to grow and succeed because when people are healthy, children do better in school, workers are more productive and businesses can add jobs because their health care costs are lower; and

WHEREAS,  air pollution does not respect state borders, and Maine's geographic location puts us on the receiving end of life-threatening air pollution produced in states to the south and west of us; and

WHEREAS,  air pollution can lead to asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancer, reproductive and developmental harm and even premature death; and

WHEREAS,  dangerous air pollution levels can increase hospital admissions and emergency room visits as well as missed days of school and work; and

WHEREAS,  unhealthy air can be particularly dangerous for children, the elderly and people with chronic diseases, including the more than 22,700 children and 92,700 adults with asthma and other lung diseases, who may require expensive medical care on unhealthy air days in the State; and

WHEREAS,  air pollution can cause serious health effects at levels once deemed safe and almost half of the people in Maine live in counties with fair to poor air quality; and

WHEREAS,  for more than 4 decades the federal Clean Air Act has protected public health by reducing levels of smog, soot and other air toxins; and

WHEREAS,  the Clean Air Act is a Maine tradition, having been established and subsequently updated and improved under the leadership of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, Senator George J. Mitchell and Senator William S. Cohen; and

WHEREAS,  nationally the Clean Air Act has prevented an estimated 160,000 premature deaths, more than 130,000 heart attacks and over 1.7 million asthma attacks in 2010 alone; and

WHEREAS,  reducing air pollution through the Clean Air Act will provide the United States with $2 trillion in benefits and prevent 230,000 deaths in 2020; and

WHEREAS,  it is not necessary to choose between improving public health and helping our economy innovate and grow, as evidenced by data showing that between 1970 and 2009 total emissions of the 6 principal air pollutants fell by 63%, while private sector jobs and our nation's gross domestic product increased by 86% and 210%, respectively; and

WHEREAS,  the United States Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that the Clean Air Act has produced economic benefits valued at 30 times the cost of regulation; and

WHEREAS,  the Clean Air Act is continually threatened by attempts to weaken, block, delay or underfund its important public health safeguards; now, therefore, be it