Republicans have officially initiated their “Race to the Bottom” on every federal policy from public health to education.

For the past nine months, the Clean Air Act and other public health standards have been under constant attack by corporate interests and the right wing.

The “Race to the Bottom” agenda puts the interests of regular Americans aside by seeking to remove key safeguards that protect our air and water.

That’s why I’m joining parents, business owners, health care professionals and others around the nation in launching the Clean Air Promise campaign — an effort to bring the coordinated assault on the Clean Air Act to the attention of citizens and our leaders to ask them to promise to protect clean air.

I’m supporting this effort for my sister-in-law and the hundreds of thousands of other people across the country suffering through asthma attacks triggered by air pollution.

Polluting manufacturers and utilities are seeking to delay updated air quality standards that would lower the amount of ozone smog, fine particle pollution, and other toxic chemicals like mercury in the air.

We can have both clean air and viable industry and utilities. Clean energy can spark innovation and create jobs. We can all stand up to the big polluters by making this simple promise and asking our friends to do the same: “I promise to protect America’s children and families from dangerous air pollution. I will support clean air policies and other protections that scientists and public health experts have recommended to the EPA to safeguard air quality.”

Make the promise and then visit peoplenotpolluters.org to learn more. If we all work together the big polluters will hear us.

Linda Stanton

Fayette