Testimony at the Maine Legislature
by Sue Jones, NRCM energy project director
Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on behalf of the Natural Resources Council of Maine (Council). I am Sue Jones, and am the Energy Project Director for the Council. I live in Freeport. The Council is a public interest, nonprofit organization that seeks to protect and conserve Maine’s environment for now and future generations. As part of the Council’s work, we advocate for clean air and energy measures, including those that reduce global warming pollution.
L.D. 904, An Act to Create the Maine Asthma and Lung Disease Research Fund, will provide voluntary funding to support grants for research into the health effects of indoor and ambient air pollution in Maine, and the prevention, causes, treatment and cure of lung disease in Maine.
The Council supports LD 904 because:
Our climate and environment are changing. To keep pace with new scientific information regarding this, we must also keep researching into the projected health impacts of this change. Maine already has very high health risks cause by indoor and outdoor ambient air pollution in Maine. We need additional research to find new ways to reduce health risk caused by these existing and new threats.
We urge you to pass L.D. 904 to support addition research into the health effects of indoor and outdoor air pollution in Maine.
Thank you for the opportunity to offer these comments.
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[1] ALA’s “Respiratory Health Indicators For Maine Annual Report” (February 2004).
[2] EPA’s “EPA New England: Ground-level Ozone and Ozone Non-Attainment Areas in New England”, 21 July 2004.
