Life Before the Clean Air Act

[0:00]You know about the 1960s, right? The civil rights movement, the feminist movement, anti-Vietnam war protests. But did you know that the US also faced a terrible deadly pollution problem? Our fight for a healthy environment continues. But let's look at what US cities were like before the federal government stepped in where cities couldn't, when there were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our air, water and soil. Before the Clean Air Act, before the EPA. In 1969, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River was so polluted with oil slicks that it caught on fire. But the pollution that hit millions of citizens every single day was toxic air pollution. Coal pollution was sickening people and giving coal miners deadly black lung disease. Pollution from cars and trucks filled with leaded gasoline and diesel fuels choked the air in neighborhoods near highways. Pollution from power plants and heavy industry was so bad across the country that more than 60 US cities faced extremely serious air pollution. Pollution caused terrible health problems in Los Angeles. In 1953 in New York City, a six-day smog killed over 200. In the 1940s, Pittsburgh, nicknamed Smokey City, was so dark all day that people had to drive with headlights. Believe it or not, it was hard to convince people that filthy air was actually a problem. According to Pittsburgh historians, many thought pollution simply meant that a city was thriving economically. Polluters would even tell people that smoke was good for their lungs and would help their crops grow. Nowadays, we see the cruelty and the corruption of these terrible lies. We know the damage that pollution can do to the bodies and the minds of infants, children, adults and the elderly. Cities tried to clean things up, but pollution rules in most states were weak or never enforced. It took the federal bipartisan Clean Air Act, passed in 1963 and enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency since 1970 to make a difference. Both were created with support from Republicans and Democrats. And our air is much cleaner because of it, but we still have a lot of work to do. Now polluters and some law makers are trying to weaken and even kill clean air protections. They want to cripple the EPA and the Clean Air Act. Air pollution harms our health, especially children's health. It makes our medical bills go up. It makes insurance much more expensive. It makes everything worse. No one voted for dirty air. Help us protect the strength of the Clean Air Act and save our ability to keep cleaning our air. Stay tuned to Moms Clean Air Force channels for more information on how you can help fight for justice in every breath.