Featured Story: Jake C., ME

On New Year's Eve 1999, as other families worried about the Y2K bug, Lisa and Mark spent the night in the emergency room with their newborn son Jake who was suffering an asthma attack. Today, Jake is 11 and lives in Maine where he is active in soccer, basketball and baseball. Of the sports, soccer is his favorite and he uses an inhaler before or during practices and games if he's having a flare up.

When Jake has a bad flare-up it's difficult for him to sleep because of extreme coughing and he's not able to go to school. He is extra susceptible to colds and "junk in the air."

Jake and his mother get angry at smokers on the street who impair his breathing. They feel the same way about businesses that pollute the air and they oppose proposals to loosen policies on the worst polluting corporations.

Lisa says it doesn't make any sense to play with people's lives like this. As for Jake, he just feels like "it's a pain in the butt" when he has to miss out on school and can't play soccer.

Watch the video of Jake's dad, Mark, talking about the tremendous toll unhealthy air takes on Maine families and businesses.

Read more personal stories about why people across the country are fighting for clean, healthy air.

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