Health Experts, Parents, Community Leaders Warn Initiative 2117 Would Allow More Pollution by Rolling Back Most Consequential Washington State Clean Air Program in Decades

August 22, 2024 – Health experts, parents, and community leaders came together in the Duwamish Valley today to speak out against I-2117 and warn that it would allow more pollution by ending protections for clean air, threatening Washingtonians’ health.

I-2117 would repeal the most consequential Washington state clean air programs in decades. I-2117 would immediately end expanded air quality monitoring, new clean air standards, and slash tens of millions in funding for communities most impacted by poor air quality.

Community leaders came together in the Duwamish Valley, one of 16 communities designated by the Washington State Department of Ecology as overburdened by air quality, to urge Washington state voters to reject I-2117. Duwamish Valley communities experience a life expectancy that is eight years shorter than the Seattle average. Additionally, children in the Duwamish Valley are hospitalized more frequently due to asthma conditions than lesser-burdened areas of the state.

Over 10 percent of Washington’s kids already struggle with asthma, and more than one million people in Washington live in communities highly impacted by air pollution. Exposure to poor air quality causes increased respiratory illnesses such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes, and mental health events.

“Initiative 2117 would undo Washington’s biggest steps toward cleaner air since the 1990 Clean Air Act,” said Washington State House Majority Leader Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon. “None of us can afford to go backwards, especially seniors, children, and people with respiratory health conditions.”

“The Duwamish Valley has some of the worst air quality in the state, and that pollution has significant health impacts,” said Paulina Lopez, Executive Director, Duwamish River Community Coalition. “We are surrounded by more than 100 hazardous waste sites, a Superfund Site, three freeways and are in the flight path of two airports. All these cumulative impacts have brought huge inequities such as the highest childhood asthma hospitalization rates in King County. Initiative 2117 is a misleading initiative that would mean more toxic air pollution — and more kids will be sick with asthma and unable to breathe good air!”

“Exposure to unhealthy air causes asthma, severe illness, and can take years off your life,” said Dr. Mark Vossler, a practicing cardiologist and Board Member with Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Initiative 2117 would devastate protections for clean air, putting kids’ and families’ health at risk. As a doctor and proud Washingtonian, I am voting NO on I-2117 to protect the health of my patients and communities across Washington.”

“As a mom of a young son with asthma, I know firsthand the terrifying impacts unhealthy air has on kids and families,” said Maggie Humphreys, Senior Director, MomsRising, and parent of a two-year-old son with asthma. “Initiative 2117 would cut vital efforts to improve air quality, including ending millions in funding to make schools cleaner and safer. I am voting NO on 2117 in November for the health of my son, my family, and caregivers across Washington.”

“I’ve seen firsthand the impacts poor air quality has on farmers and outdoors workers in Washington state,” said Hoda Abdullahi, a farmer and Food Access Manager, Living Well Kent. “Farmers who have worked with us for years have left because unhealthy air makes it impossible for them to work outside. This is particularly challenging for older farmers and those with respiratory conditions. Initiative 2117 makes farming more difficult and dangerous, which is why I’m voting no this November.”

If passed, I-2117 would repeal a Washington state program focused on mitigating health-harming pollution, with a focus on 16 communities overburdened by air pollution, ranging from South Seattle, to Tacoma, to Vancouver, to Yakima, to Spokane, and more. It would:

• Cut funding that helps schools become cleaner and healthier by installing and updating ventilation, heating, and air conditioning, and air filtration improvements.
• Immediately end the expansion of our air quality monitoring network, which both alerts families when levels of air pollution are dangerous, and allows state agencies to act to enforce clean air standards.
• Impact a first-of-its-kind grant program in Washington state that funds projects by community organizations and Tribal Nations to reduce air pollution and improve health in overburdened areas.
• Slash funding for wildfire prevention and forest health programs, which would make communities less vulnerable to wildfires and smoke.
• End a program specifically designed to help modernize Tribal schools.

To learn more about projects that would be cut by I-2117, visit Clean & Prosperous Institute’s Risk of Repeal map, which provides robust data on the impacts of the initiative, including transportation, air quality, and restoration for rivers, streams, and lakes.

Over 400 organizations and Tribes oppose I-2117 and have endorsed the No on 2117 campaign, including firefighters, small businesses, Tribal Nations, doctors, nurses, and public health leaders, labor unions, and environmental groups. You can view the full list of organizations opposing I-2117 here.