Welcome Message from Governor Rick Perry
Drive Clean Across Texas is the nation’s first statewide public outreach and education campaign designed to raise awareness and change attitudes about air pollution. Ultimately Drive Clean Across Texas’ goal is to inspire changes in driving behavior that will help clean up the air in Texas. Although there are many sources of air pollution, one of the major contributors is vehicle emissions from our cars and trucks. Therefore, Drive Clean Across Texas focuses on reducing this source of pollution.
Air pollution is a serious problem. It requires our commitment to reducing it because it can affect our health. Children, the elderly, those with respiratory illness and those who work and exercise outdoors are at highest risk of developing medical complications caused by air pollution.
Exposure to air pollution can lead to:
Ground-level ozone will actually give healthy people the equivalent of sunburn on their lungs!
Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause:
Texas has only a few years to meet the Federal Clean Air Act standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. If we fail, the consequences are serious and far reaching. Air pollution can do more than restrict our breathing; it can also inhibit our mobility and cripple our economy.
There are nine areas of Texas that do not meet or barely meet Federal Clean Air Quality Standards. They are designated as non attainment (not meeting Federal Clean Air Quality Standards), near non-attainment (barely meeting standards) or Early Action Compact (EAC) (not meeting standards and have pledged to meet standards earlier than required by the Clean Air Act). These areas are as follows:
Each of us is part of the solution to this urgent problem in Texas. There are five primary actions that individuals can take. For more information on these actions, go to Do Your Part.
The Drive Clean Across Texas campaign consists of three components with activities and products designed to meet these goals:
The campaign includes a mix of radio, television and billboard messages airing in the summer months in Texas’ nine non-attainment and near non-attainment areas. Collectively, the public outreach messages are designed to state the problem, establish a link between traffic and air pollution, and communicate specifically what Texans can do to reduce vehicle-related air pollution.
Air quality affects the everyday lives of Texans. For that reason, it’s an important and relevant news topic. The Drive Clean Across Texas campaign also communicates a wide range of important information through the news media in the form of news stories and public service announcements.
Drive Clean Across Texas has also developed a variety of materials to help reinforce public outreach and news coverage and to communicate more detailed information about Texas’ air quality problem. The following materials are available:
