The Blog

This Tuesday, the Clean Air Coalition was invited to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters in Washington, DC, to celebrate the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program.

We kicked off the day at the White House for a tour of the grounds.  Back at EPA headquarters we joined community leaders from throughout the country who are leading impressive projects to address pollution in their neighborhoods.  We heard from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and met a lot of EPA staff that will help support us as we launch our CARE partnership.

The CARE program is a competitive grant program that offers communities an innovative way to address the risks from multiple sources of toxic pollution in their environment.  Through CARE various local organizations, including non-profits, businesses, schools and governments create partnerships that implement local solutions to reduce releases of toxic pollutants and minimize people’s exposure to them.  CARE educates and supports communities by helping them assess the pollution risks they face.

The Clean Air Coalition won a CARE award of $100,000 this summer.  The grant will allow us to build a stronger base of residents who are educated and motivated to take action to improve the environment and public health in Tonawanda.  We will work with our leaders to do more sophisticated air testing, a photography investigation, and do research on accidental releases.