Clean Air Policies Are Critical to Respiratory Health
March 26, 2026
At the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), our members see firsthand how environmental conditions affect respiratory health. Climate change and worsening air quality are not abstract concerns; they are realities that are increasingly shaping our patients’ health. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding will cost lives, increase suffering among patients and our communities, raise chronic disease costs, and accelerate the climate crisis. CHEST urges the EPA to reestablish and strengthen the Endangerment Finding and other essential clean air policies that are foundational to improving lung health.
Decades of scientific evidence show that greenhouse gases—and the pollutants released alongside them—pose serious threats to human health. The Endangerment Finding acknowledged these dangers and enabled regulation of emissions from major sources such as motor vehicles. Every day, pulmonary, critical care, and sleep health clinicians treat patients hospitalized with asthma attacks and COPD exacerbations linked to air pollution.
Strong air quality protections are critical to reducing and preventing these health risks.
The air we breathe is shared and so are the consequences of air pollution. Pollution travels beyond city and state lines, making clean air a global public health issue, not just a local one. Protecting clean air is therefore not just an environmental concern but a global public health imperative.
These harms are not borne equally. Communities shaped by redlining and economic disinvestment are disproportionately exposed to pollution from highways, industrial facilities, and fossil fuel-powered plants. As a result, patients in these communities face higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, making urgent action essential.
As health care professionals committed to protecting and improving lung health and saving lives, CHEST affirms that strong air quality protections are fundamental to the well-being of our patients and communities. We urge the EPA to restore the Endangerment Finding and fully reinstate all clean air policies that uphold the EPA’s core mission to protect human health and the environment.
Recent CHEST advocacy content surrounding environmental issues:
These are just recent actions on which CHEST has spoken out. For more information on past CHEST advocacy actions related to environmental stewardship, visit our On the Record webpage and open the Public Health section.