IN YOUR BACKYARD: The People vs. Dirty Air (ft. Rep. Ro Khanna)

0:00Hey, it's Brett from the Midas Touch Network, and it's that time of the week for another episode of In Your Backyard. For those who don't know, this is our new climate series hosted by Midas Touch's own Luke Radel, coming at you every other Thursday right here on the Midas Touch podcast feed and on our Substack. And by the way, leading up to the midterms, we are making all of our news content on Substack completely paywall-free. Maybe not the best business decision, but we thought that it was important that people have access to good quality information. So make sure you sign up now and stay informed at MidasPlus.com.

0:32Today, Luke is looking at the Trump administration's rollback of protections against air pollution and what those decisions actually mean for people's lives. He speaks with two people dealing with the health consequences of dirty air every day, including a mother whose son's asthma can turn a bad air quality day into a medical emergency. Luke also sits down with Congressman Ro Khanna to discuss what's happening in Washington, the administration's environmental rollbacks, and what can actually be done about it. Plus, Rose says some very interesting things about 2028 that you're going to want to hear.

1:04It's all part of our mission here with In Your Backyard, connecting the decisions being made in Washington to what's happening in communities across the country. So without further ado, here's the latest episode. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to In Your Backyard. I'm Luke Radel, and I'm so glad you're here for such an important topic that we have going on today. You know, when thinking about politics and what's going on here in Washington, it can sometimes feel hard to breathe. And that gets even harder when it's literally hard for people to breathe as a result of air pollution or wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada or throughout California and the West Coast.

1:46And the Trump administration has been really active since the start of the president's first and now second term in peeling back the protections that were once in place to guard against air pollution. A few weeks ago, the EPA, which is run by Lee Zeldin, someone that I'm familiar with because he ran for governor of New York just a few short years ago. He's now the EPA administrator. And the EPA under Lee Zeldin has announced that it's going to lift carbon emission limits for coal-fired power plants. Let me run that back again. The EPA is going to lift carbon emissions for coal-fired power plants.

2:26Now, look, I am hardly an expert on climate change. I'm really not. I'm here to help guide you through it and help tell these stories and walk you through it. I didn't do very well in most of my math and science classes, but I can tell you, and I know if you're not an expert in climate change, I'm pretty sure you know that those buzzwords, carbon emissions, coal-fired power plants, all of those things just seem like alarm bells, flashing red alarm bells for the climate crisis that we've been doing. been hearing about now for decades, and that has only gotten worse throughout my lifetime and yours.

3:02But it's not just that specific provision. It's a broader attitude that we're seeing from the Environmental Protection Agency that they're just not really that interested in protecting the environment under this administration. That's the message that a lot of people seem to be receiving when, for instance, they repealed the endangerment finding that basically forced the federal government to protect communities like yours and mine from pollution of all kinds, including our topic this week, which is air pollution. It's a major blow to combating the pollution that is behind the climate change, the climate crisis that we're seeing, that is causing a lot of the things that we've been talking about on this show, what we talked about last week with extreme weather and the respiratory illnesses that we're going to touch upon pretty heavily in this episode as well.

3:53And when you hear something like how an administration no longer counts the value of lives when it sets pollution standards, that's true, by the way. They made another change that said that they're not taking into account as a factor what it will do on human lives, the quality of life in a community. Instead, what they're going to be focusing on, what this administration is very often focused on is the economic impact of a particular development of a particular project and whether the pollution caused by that project harms the neighborhood around it is now no longer material in some cases. When you hear something like that, it can be easy for many to lose sight of the individuals, the lives that are impacted in those communities, But that's what this show is all about.

4:42And so for this episode and for this entire series, I've set out to talk to the people who in different places across the country are fighting back against these changes, are helping to make their communities a better place to live, and are working to create a more hospitable political landscape so that that way we can see the changes and accountability that we all need to help make this crisis go away. So later, you'll hear our conversation that I have with Congressman Ro Khanna of California, who has been leading the fight for a while on environmental issues, and particularly here in Washington, D.C., in the political arena, what can be done on an issue like air pollution.

5:22But first, as always, we're leading with the voices of the folks here dealing with these issues face-to-face in their backyards. So let's lead off with some of those conversations for In Your Backyard. First up, let's head outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That's where we'll find our first guest on In Your Backyard, a woman named Kathy Lucas, who, as I mentioned earlier, a big focus of this episode, as you might imagine, an episode on air pollution and emissions to be focused on. She's an individual with a respiratory illness. She's had to manage her life around dirty air since she was just a child.

6:02You hear her talk about that. And I wanted to know what life was like back then and what it has meant for her now and how the fights about clean air that happened in Washington and in various political state capitals and elsewhere, how those fights are actually affecting her and her neighbors and her community. And also what she makes of what the Trump administration has done lately, those actions that I laid out earlier, but how they're largely letting polluters off the hook. Take a listen to my conversation with Kathy Lucas. Kathy, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to join me here on In Your Backyard.

6:37I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. So tell our audience a little bit about where you live and the role that air pollution has played throughout your life. Sure. Sure. Let's start. Well, let's start at the beginning. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and that was the heyday of the steel mills, the 1970s into the early 80s. And I was a kid with asthma. We had a weatherman by the name of Joe DiNardo that anybody in Pittsburgh is going to remember, at least if they're Gen X like me. And he would give the pollution index in the morning and tell us if you should go out with a bandana around your face because the pollution from the steel mills was quite bad that day.

7:27So a few of us and we all walked to school. Of course, we all walked all the way uphill one way and all the way uphill the other way. Dr. Justin Marchegiani Naturally. Dr. Justin Marchegiani We Gen X will, of course. Dr. Justin Marchegiani And so there were a few of us with asthmatic conditions. So we would walk to school with a bandana on because really we didn't have the masks that we have now available. Sure. So that was kind of a daily basis thing. On that point, yeah, can I ask on that point, like how effective was the bandana at keeping out the pollutants? Could you still kind of taste that feeling that you get when you go out in such polluted air?

8:09As a kid, I don't remember tasting it. I'm sure it gave us a little bit of protection, but not a whole lot, I'm sure. because the other thing that was neat about growing up in Pittsburgh was if you went shopping with your grandma or your mother down on the avenue which in our case would have been homestead by the homestead steelworks and right down the street or down the river was the J &L steel plant as well you would walk down the street and as a little kid it was really really cool because everything was all glittery and pretty on the sidewalks and you're like oh wow that's really cool you know because kids love glitter and um then later you learn it's glittery because of all the heavy metals in the air that are settling onto the street which means that we're breathing it in also so growing up in the dirty city of pittsburgh in its steel mill heyday was it had its problems and you went through you know your day and you did what you could do but But I'm sure there are plenty of people who have problems from it.

9:14Yeah. And talk a little bit present day about how you've had to manage your life and have had to deal with various health conditions as a result of the air quality you experienced growing up and then also today. It's hard to say for sure if any of what I experienced as a child kind of is now affecting me from then. But in 2022, I was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, which means that my lungs are clogged up, in my case, with clots and old clots and scar tissue around those clots that they had to go in and dig out in an open heart kind of a procedure. and those clots and those blockages keep my heart from getting the oxygen so it has a hard time working and it also has a a problem getting that oxygenated blood to my body so breathing can be difficult um if I am exerting myself if I'm having a really bad day and I'm talking that can be difficult.

10:24Um, walking up hills and stairs is monumental. Uh, getting things done in the house for my family is really difficult. Most days you don't have as much energy as you need. You don't have as much air as you need. Um, and the condition starts to make your heart fail. So I have right started heart failure as a result of the pulmonary hypertension um so the most problem i've had has been when we had the wildfires all that smoke coming in we had dangerous levels there were days i didn't go out every morning i checked before i go out what the air quality is so i know should i put on an N95 mask. And that way I know, can I walk my dog?

11:16Can I go shopping? Can I do whatever it is I need to do outside? Gardening, whatever. But yeah, it's just another step you have to take to protect yourself for what air, you know, you have to make sure you're going to have enough air. What kind of a dog do you have, Kathy? I have a Border Collie Lab who's probably around here somewhere. I love that. How often is it a boy or a girl? It's a girl. Okay. How often does she need to go out and stretch her legs? She's got a lot of lazy lab in her, but she loves to go on a walk because she loves to see people out in the neighborhood. So we try to go every day if I'm able to go and we'll go as far as we can.

12:02I don't go very far, but we go as far as I can. and um you know it's it's also part of my rehab for my condition it keeps things going kind of so yeah i understand you also have a garden as well what's it like trying to get the garden work done especially when you're heading outside to deal with the air quality issues we have a very natural garden um we do a lot of grabbing seeds the pollinators will like and just tossing them and letting them do what they want to do. The rest of the planting is pretty much done by the birds as they pick up seeds and drop them here and there. You know, we have milkweed for the butterflies.

12:42We have cosmos. We have black-eyed Susans. We try to stick with the natural stuff. But the weeding, it needs weeded terribly. But, you know, things like the fireflies also live in the weeds. So we kind of let that go. You start to learn to not worry about everything that's not getting done when you have this condition. You mentioned that the Canadian wildfires was kind of the single incident that was the most difficult for you to deal with. But I understand there's also this kind of constant rolling issue of the petrochemical plant. I believe it's a shell plant. The shell plant. In your community.

13:23Talk a little bit about what those facilities mean for the rest of the community and for you specifically.

13:34Well, we have had alerts. We have had bad air throughout the period of time of them being up and operational. They have quite often not been in compliance. this supposed boon to the community really has hurt people over there not just probably with their health and their air quality but their property values it did not provide a ton of jobs that everybody was hoping oh we're getting jobs to the beaver valley didn't provide a bunch jobs. You know, and now, not just with the Shell Cracker plant there, we're dealing up here with as many other rural areas do, we are dealing with the data centers. And with the increased amount of fossil fuels they're going to use, that's going to hurt our air, that's going to hurt our available water for people.

14:34And of course, again, even fewer jobs are going to be available to folks and also the cost of our utilities are going to go up and it just seems like if you're a regular person whether you're completely healthy or not we're getting the short end of the stick on a lot of things it seems like on the issue of data centers on the issue of emissions more broadly the environment more broadly the trump administration particularly in the second term, but also in the first, has been rolling back a lot of the protections that were previously in place. So when you say, oh, these folks are out of compliance, there isn't the regulatory force to actually back that up in a lot of these instances.

15:21What makes you, I guess, most alarmed, most nervous about what this Trump administration is doing? I know it might be hard to just pick one thing, but what impact is it having specifically specifically on you and in your community?

15:38It's very hard to pick one because to me, everything's interrelated. It's all connected. People right now can't afford to live. That's a big problem. They can't afford to live. People don't have health care. The health care that we do have is going up. the drugs that help to keep me alive and keep my quality of life such that I can at least contribute some to my family. Those drugs are anywhere from 20 to 50 ,000 each. And there are four of them per month, not per year, per month. Right now, my Medicare plan does cover those. and the originally it was$2 ,000 per year prescription cap that President Biden started.

16:31This year it was$2 ,100 out of pocket cap for those prescription drugs. That allows me to get those drugs and to live. I'm sure there are other people with cancer drugs and other types of drugs like that that are extremely expensive that, you know, their lives are no less than anybody else. their lives are no less than the politicians that are deciding, well, we can't afford healthcare. We can't afford to make wealthy people pay for healthcare or pay beyond the cap into Social Security or anything else. There's an unfortunate distance between the policies that they're making in this administration and the problems that people are facing and the problems that it's going to create.

17:29You know, we've already seen so many people kicked off Medicaid and there's going to be a lot more because they want to cut even more. And with all of the environmental deregulation, the pollution is going to go up. People are going to get sicker. They're not going have the healthcare we're gonna have a lot of people that are in big trouble health-wise and economically uh and we've got it we've got to get this straightened out i'm hoping people will realize that and realize that they have not been served by this administration not just president trump but also uh the congress the republican congress in particular um you know that we've got to do better.

18:12They have to do better. And I hope that they'll send them a message as midterm and vote them out and vote in some people that are hopefully progressive, but at least we'll, we'll do something for regular American people instead of just the wealthy and the corporations who just want to keep on polluting at our expense. Kathy, I really appreciate your time and thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I really appreciate that. Thank you. Oh, sure. Thank you. I'm glad you had me on today. Thank you very much. Next up, we're going to head to Southeast Michigan. And yes, if you're wondering, Michigan, Pennsylvania, these are all states that we tend to talk a lot about when it gets to election season.

18:50And obviously, we've been covering a whole variety of states here on this show. But it is important to point out that these issues are going to be shaping the races that decide balance of power in Congress, the U.S. Senate, and yes, even the presidency in a few short years. We'll get to potentially one of the presidents for that job in a moment. But first, in Michigan, in Livingston County, to be specific, I spoke to Elizabeth Hopman, who has a son with asthma. And so as a result, she and a bunch of other moms in the community started a group of activists to fight back against what they were seeing happen in their communities.

19:34It's such a, I don't know, heartwarming example of people coming together to do the job that folks here in Washington so often won't as they go off on another vacation when there are still so many problems left to solve. Elizabeth and her group are working hard, tirelessly to effectuate change in their communities. Here's my conversation with Elizabeth. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining me on In Your Backyard. I really appreciate it. Well, thanks for having me. What an important day and time to talk about these things. Absolutely. I want to rewind the clock a little bit and bring it all the way back to the beginning, which is, I feel like always a good place to start stories like this.

20:11How did you get involved in doing this work? I understand that maybe you started out as being a concerned mom, which I have one of those. I know many of those. They're the best type of advocates and activists. But now you've been a lot more involved and made it into something a lot more than just advocating for your son. So talk to me a little bit about how you got involved in this work. Sure. So about 13 now years ago, 14 years ago now, I was a volunteer with Moms Clean Air Force. I was one of the many one and a half million moms, dads, and caregivers that were very interested in learning more about how air pollution and climate change are impacting our children and women's bodies.

20:59And when I was pregnant with my son, Oscar, I got an eat safe fish guide, which said what I couldn't, couldn't eat while I was pregnant due to some of the concerns that we talk about at Moms Clean Air Force. And the wonderful thing about moms, like I said, is that moms are very powerful. We advocate for our kids all the time, like you just referenced. So we are forced to be reckoned with. And I'm very proud of the work that we do at Moms. Yeah. What are you guys up against locally where you guys are in your community when it comes to air pollution? I understand Michigan has something like 18 coal-fired power plants that are exposing people in your community and in communities across Michigan to ash pollution and all other types of pollutants.

21:44What does that mean for you on the ground? Yeah, well, I don't know if you know this, but according to the American Lung Association, Michigan is the fourth hardest state to live in if you have asthma. And also we have many cities that have failing air quality grades. Detroit on a whole, we have children hospitalization rates that are higher than average because of air pollution. And some of that is also from industry and oil and gas. And coal-fired plants are actually one of our biggest contributors. Like I said, 10, 13 years ago when I got more involved with this, that was one of the first things we talked about.

22:30This particular plant, Coke Camel plant, which was recently in the news, that was scheduled to be shut down in May of 2025, was forced to keep open, as you know, under the guise of an emergency order for energy. while simultaneously getting rid of wind and solar, which we know are safer, zero emissions. So you can't have an energy crisis while taking away energy sources from us. And because of these coal-fired plants, we have an accumulation of heavy metals. We annually see about 10 ,000 pounds of heavy metals that go just into Lake Michigan alone. And this particular plant that is being forced to stay open is responsible for 400 asthma attacks per year.

23:28And that's just on average. So when we look at what's coming out of these stacks, we're looking at benzene, arsenic. We're talking heavy metals, particle pollution, ozone, all things that are neurotoxins as well as cancer causing emissions that are coming out of here that is impacting our children. You mentioned how difficult it is for folks with asthma in your state. I know this is a personal issue for you. I'd love it if you could show our audience the picture that you have and talk a little bit about what the experience has been like with your son and with asthma. This is my son when he was four years old.

24:12And this happened when we had a poor air quality day. So when we have these poor air quality days, we're constantly checking our air quality index to see if it's safe for our son to go outside. Well, it was a bad ozone day and my son unfortunately had an asthma attack that we could not make go away with just a simple inhaler. A lot of times we'll rush home for a nebulizing treatment, and if that doesn't work, we're heading off to an emergency room. And I can't tell you how awful it is as a parent to see the fear in your child's eyes as they struggle to breathe, knowing you can't do anything for them other than to rush them as quickly as possible to a hospital and hope that he gets relief.

25:02At those times, you don't think about policy. You don't think about politics. You just think, oh, Lord, please just let my child breathe. And I feel that's just not something that any family should have to face. And there's 166 ,000 children here in Michigan who suffer from chronic asthma. So it's not just my family that's facing these concerns as these rollbacks are happening and these safeguards and protections are going away for our children. You hit the nail right in the head that the primary and additional concern that you'd have when your child is going through something like that, rather, is I hope they can be okay.

25:43I hope if they get the treatment and the care they need. But I know for so many families, and especially the way things are, you referred to as the simple inhaler. I don't know how easy it is for folks to get access to an inhaler, given the cost of healthcare and things like inhalers. Right now. And inhaler costs$150 with my insurance, to your point, Luke, not to cut you off. No, please. You know, it's one of those things too, that depending on your quality, he could be using that frequently throughout the week. Or if we're having great air quality, he won't have to use it at all. But the point is through some months that we go through two or three, if we have the wildfire smoke, for example, that came down from Canada and blanketed Michigan, many of us were just checking our weather reports to see if it was even safe for us to go to the grocery store.

26:36That's how dire it can be for kids, especially kids as sensitive as Oscar who have these chronic illnesses and other respiratory illnesses. Just recently, I had a coffee, we called a coffee climate break. And we had some folks that were on there. They were talking about their families who have people who have disabilities, whether they be physical or mental disabilities and how it impacts them too. If you have equipment that can't be used, if you have refrigeration that you need, All these things are dependent on safe, reliable energy sources and making sure that we are taking care of the folks that need it the most.

27:21Walk me through a little bit your thought process when considering whether you and Oscar can go to events, go out in the community when it is outdoors, when you're facing that wildfire smoke, as you mentioned, or just in general in your neighborhood, given the air quality coming out of these plants. What does that thought process look like for you? And how often is that answer not today? We need to stay inside today. Yeah, that's a very good question. You know, we make it a point to check our weather index app to make sure that it's safe for Oscar to go outside. And, you know, there was a time a couple of years ago where he had a field day where kids are supposed to be outside celebrating, playing sports, having all these fun games at the end of the year.

28:12And it wasn't safe for my son to be outside. The air quality was terrible. and you debate, do I let him join his friends and run the risk that he could get sick? Or do I pull him? And then once again, how does that impact your child? I mean, sports and activities are supposed to keep them healthy. And the very air that they're breathing is making them sick. So we have to make sure that it's safe for him or have a plan to see where the closest urgent care is? Or am I close enough to rush home and use this nebulizer? Do I have enough inhalers on me? And it's kind of, you know, Oscar is older now.

28:57And he's taken it upon himself to check the weather app. And now he has his friends doing it as well. It's not just kids who have these vulnerabilities. It's everybody who is, you know, breathing in particle pollution, which is the width of your hair. These are things that folks do not see and therefore may not even think about until it becomes a crisis. Yeah. Elizabeth, thank you so much for your time and for sharing your story on in your backyard. I really appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate you. I want to thank Elizabeth and Kathy both for taking the time to share their stories with me. And we know that there are a lot of other stories like theirs.