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January 2012 Pulmonary Press

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COPD Learn More Breathe Better click here to view article

In This Issue:

• COPD Awareness Continues to Rise with the Help of Network Members During COPD Awareness Month
• Spotlight On…Rebecca Wills, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital
• Breathe Better Network Membership Update

An important message from the American Lung Association…click here to view article

“The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will protect millions of families and children from harmful and costly air pollution.”
– Lisa Jackson, Administrator, U.S. EPA

This change has been a long time coming, but after 21 years of delays and industry interference, the Obama Administration has finalized the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants.

In a ceremony at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, earlier today, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was joined by American Lung Association Volunteer Chair Al Rizzo, MD, to announce the final safeguards. These standards will prevent an estimated 11,000 premature deaths each year.

This is a huge victory in the fight for healthy air, and people like you helped make it happen.

It was your support—along with the support of hundreds of thousands of other concerned Americans across the country that demonstrated the broad support that clean air protections enjoy.

Send a message to the White House and thank President Obama for protecting our air and our health!
This week the Obama Administration stood up for clean air, and set strong new standards for power plant emissions.

Take two minutes to send a message to the White House thanking President Obama!

These updated mercury and air toxics safeguards will prevent 130,000 asthma attacks, 4,700 heart attacks, and more than 5,000 additional hospital visits from power plant pollution each year.

And you know, these aren’t just numbers—these are people’s lives.

As a result of these safeguards, more kids will be able to play outside with a lower risk of having an asthma attack. Fewer parents will end up in the hospital because of a heart attack or stroke. And from coast to coast, people will be able to breathe a little easier.

If you hadn’t stepped up to the plate and told our leaders in Washington that we expect them to protect public health, not polluters’ bottom line—none of this would have been possible.

Will you take two minutes to thank President Obama for supporting strong standards for power plant emissions today?

This is an enormous victory for public health, but it’s certainly not the end of the fight for healthy air. In the coming months, big polluters and their allies in Congress will continue their effort to reverse these safeguards. Like bullies on a playground, they will keep up their assault on the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the EPA, and the Clean Air Act. It’s going to be up to people like you to continue to speak out against these attacks.

Polluters won’t give up easily, but if we keep the pressure on President Obama and our leaders in Washington, we can win the fight for healthy air.

Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Peter Iwanowicz
Director, Healthy Air Campaign
American Lung Association

May Peace, Love, and Joy surround you and your loved ones throughout this wonderful holiday season and into the New Year.

From our Respira family to yours, many warm wishes for a blessed holiday and a happy and healthy New Year.

Click here to open December-2011-Pulmonary-Press

Highlights include the following:

• Travel with Oxygen
• Fire Safety
• Medicare Appeals

This Thanksgiving, Respira would like to express our gratitude to all of the friends and families that entrust us with their care. We value you, your families, and your lives and we are honored to serve you. From our Respira family to yours, have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy