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I'm Michael Blatt, a student from UC Merced, a 12 year native of
the central valley, and founder of Public Health Issues Forum
(www.publichealthissues.org).

Our organization did an event in West Merced a couple of weeks ago
for the Asthma coalition, handing out information on asthma and
inhaler holders. Most of my fellow club members didn't expect  our
booth to be very busy compared to booths held by police and fire
fighters. 

We were wrong. One after another, people came to our booth for
information on asthma. One after another, people told us they were
diagnosed with asthma. One after another, people told us they felt
helpless in that their inhaler is the life line of their lives. All
of these people were born in Merced.
Elderly, teenagers, toddlers. All of them came to our booth and
told us of their struggles with asthma. 

 All of these people did not make lifestyle choices that lead to
their chronic illness, these people were born into a county that is
top 5 in the nation in air pollution. This is not a matter of
lifestyle, but of the environment one grows up in. 

32 citizens that day signed a petition for Diesel Truck Rules out
of 150 attending the event. People were sick and tired of living in
an environment that is out of our control. They signed these
petitions to take control. 

It is time to come together and defeat asthma. To defeat asthma,
it beings with decreasing air pollution. With proper rules and
regulation, we can make the valley a place where children can grow
up and flourish.