(Released August 2007)
City of St. Paul
Since its founding in 1972, making democracy work has been central to Clean Water Action's mission and strategy. The cornerstone of this strategic focus is holding elected officials accountable to voters. A crucial problem underlying many pollution problems, we believe, is an imbalance of political power that distorts our political system and hampers good policy.
Diesel engines produce harmful pollution that can be reduced immediately. Older diesel engines emit a mixture of particles, metals and gasses including over 40 "hazardous air pollutants" as classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. Diesel pollution can trigger asthma and cause lung cancer, stroke, heart attack and infant death, contributing to 21,000 early deaths a year. The cancer risk from diesel exhaust is 7.5 times higher than the total cancer risk from all other 133 air toxins tracked by the EPA combined.
Water is a necessity of life. Some would argue water is the necessity of life. Every living thing relies on water to survive—from humans and dogs to California's giant redwoods, Antarctica's tuxedoed penguins and Africa's majestic elephants. Earth, robbed of its natural water supply, would be a lonely place devoid of life.
Clean water should not be a luxury, but it is treated as one.