So I'm barely back from sabbatical, and stuff is happening thick and fast. The EPA is under a court order to issue an updated standard for lead in the air by this Wednesday, October 15th. The current standard was set 30 years ago, and would be a joke except that it leaves so many kids vulnerable to lead poisoning and lets about 16,000 lead polluters continue to contaminate our air. Anyway, we're working for a standard that will protect children, but now it looks possible that we may not get it.

We found out that the battery industry had a closed-door meeting with the White House in early October. The official public comment period closed months ago, so folks like us can't be heard anymore. But those guys can still get in the door, and we can get a peek through the crack. It's easy enough to know what went on in that White House meeting. These battery guys are hoping they will get a break - they'll save money by not having to buy pollution-control equipment, and the kids who live near their factories...well...let's not think too much about them.

I blogged about one of those families in the past, and there are countless other folks living downwind of these facilities.

I've blogged a lot about lead. It's something I feel passionate about because the science is absolutely clear that it is hugely harmful to health, and the political shenanigans to try to 'explain away' the science really burn me up.

This is a "deja vu" situation, since it wasn't so long ago that the White House intervened to force EPA to set a weak air quality standard for ozone (smog). A standard that the science (and EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee) said was not sufficient to protect the health of asthmatics. I blogged about that at the time, and worried that we'd see a rerun of this bad movie when lead came around. Here it is, with an October 2008 release.

But giving up isn't an option, and fortunately we don't have to. The Clean Air Act is a good law and it forces EPA to focus on the science and health and forbids distractions like the whining in the battery industry letter. That's why I'm glad to work with a bunch of lawyers, because at a certain point, when the scientific evidence is all on the table and they're not paying attention, that's when we need a hammer.

To learn more about lead polluters near you, check out the NRDC maps. http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/lead/lead_emitters_maps.asp.