SB 974

Personalize this letter to send to your representative to ensure support for Transportation Bill linked to clean air in Los Angeles.

I join BREATHE California of Los Angeles County (BREATHE LA) to ask your help to ensure a clean air future for Los Angeles County. As you surely know, Los Angeles County suffers from the worst air pollution in the nation. This problem is significantly attributable to our ports and related freight transport system. As the system continues to grow at a rapid pace, this problem will only worsen.

I support BREATHE LA in advocating for clean air in Los Angeles County and agree with their strong support of SB 974 (Lowenthal) which will charge freight shippers $30.00 for each container passing through the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland to fund clean air retrofits of polluting diesel engines and lead to a clean air future for California. The bill offers a sensible approach to funding air clean-up while helping to reduce highway congestion and allowing for continued economic growth.

I agree with BREATHE LA that SB 974 is the most important environmental bill on the legislature's agenda this year, and thanks to increasing public awareness, the time is right to pass this legislation. Indeed, as you may already know, the policy proposed by SB 974 is supported by a strong majority of Californians. According to a just-released survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, 68 percent of Californians favor a container fee levied on cargo owners to help relieve traffic congestion and clean up air pollution at the state's largest ports.

As a supporter of BREATHE LA, an independent, non-profit organization in Los Angeles County, I am dedicated to the future of clean air and healthy lungs in Los Angeles County. I call upon you to make a similar commitment to clean air by supporting SB 974.

BREATHE LA was established in 1903 and has over a century of accomplishments, including a long affiliation with the American Lung Association (ALA) that ended in 2006. Today we are part of BREATHE California, a statewide organization with affiliates in Central Coast, Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, and San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara-San Benito Counties. BREATHE LA works in partnership with statewide BREATHE California to advance primary and secondary lung disease prevention interventions and advocate for policies that best serve and involve local communities.

BREATHE LA public information, advocacy, programs, services, and research funding address lung disease (asthma, emphysema, tuberculosis), environmental education, and tobacco. I encourage you to visit BREATHE LA website http://www.breathela.org/ and to contact me directly if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

( your name )