Environment and Public Lands

Air pollution limits

27 public statements from 2026 candidates · 5 related bills

§1The range of views

Why this matters: Air pollution affects people's health, and stricter limits can raise costs for businesses, drivers and electricity customers.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

Federal Clean Air Act limits on pollution that harms health, such as smog, soot and toxic chemicals from vehicles, factories and power plants, and the national air-quality standards that states must work to meet.1,2,3,4

  1. Strengthen limits, such as tighter standards for soot and for pollution from trucks and factories
  2. Keep current limits
  3. Ease limits and give states more leeway, such as for pollution from wildfires or other countries

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Strengthen limits, such as tighter standards for soot and for pollution from trucks and factories (8)

  • Doris Matsui CA-7
    Her campaign website says she has led efforts to strengthen nationwide vehicle pollution standards, opposed rollbacks of national clean vehicle standards and of California's vehicle emissions authority, and worked to extend and expand a program that replaces or retrofits older diesel engines.5
  • Tessa Lynn Hodge CA-23
    Her campaign website says she will fight for stronger emission standards, pointing to higher asthma rates and poorer air quality it links to industrial expansion and heavy freight traffic in the district.6
  • Kelly Kirschner FL-16
    His campaign website says he would make phosphate companies accountable and bolster clean air protections.7
  • "Jamie" Davis LA Senate
    His campaign website says he would hold petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River to a higher standard than the minimum, with independent monitoring, and enforce the Clean Air Act against the worst polluters.8
  • Priscilla Gonzalez LA-3
    Her campaign website says that as a congresswoman she will bring forth legislation to reduce pollution in Lake Charles, including bills setting stricter emission standards for industrial plants, stronger enforcement of environmental regulations and Superfund cleanup funding.9
  • Moshe Y. Landman MD-6
    His campaign website says the Clean Air Act's protections must be kept and strengthened, and that state and local efforts should build on them, for example with stricter clean air standards.10
  • Abdul El-Sayed MI Senate
    His campaign website says he would strengthen air quality standards to account for the combined effect of multiple pollutants on vulnerable communities.11
  • James Talarico TX Senate
    His campaign website says he would make strengthening the Clean Air Act a priority.12

Keep current limits (1)

  • Rebecca Bennett NJ-7
    Her environment priorities page lists maintaining essential environmental regulations that limit air and water pollution.13

Statements that don't match one option (18)

  • Andrew Sneed AL-5
    His campaign website calls for restoring clean air and water protections.14
  • Mark DeSaulnier CA-10
    His campaign website says he served nine years on the California Air Resources Board and is working to protect clean air standards, including California's vehicle emission standards, against federal rollbacks.15,16
  • Robert People FL-15
    His clean energy plan lists restoring Environmental Protection Agency standards and says he will support legislation that reinstates and reinforces them.17
  • Angel Oakley IL-3
    Her campaign website says she is committed to addressing chronic disease by pushing for policies that clean up toxic pollution in the air, soil and water.18
  • Melissa L. Bean IL-8
    Her campaign website says she will protect clean air and water by curbing or removing super-pollutants and holding polluters accountable.19
  • Brad Schneider IL-10
    His campaign website says that in Congress he voted against attempts to weaken clean air and clean water protections.20
  • Mary Allen IN-8
    Her campaign website says she will fight to protect clean air and water by holding industrial polluters accountable and strictly enforcing EPA safety standards.21
  • Brad A. Meyer IN-9
    His campaign website says emission limits and clean air laws are effective when implemented but are frequently rolled back, and lists enforcing pollution limits near schools and neighborhoods among his priorities.22
  • John "Johnny O" Olszewski, Jr. MD-2
    His campaign website says he rejects the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle protections for clean air and water and to cut funding for environmental programs such as those that protect the Chesapeake Bay.23
  • Adrian Boafo MD-5
    His campaign website says he would pursue environmental justice by cutting pollution in overburdened communities and addressing power plant emissions, water pollution and industrial contamination in Southern Maryland.24
  • April McClain Delaney MD-6
    Her campaign website says she would work to protect the Clean Air Act.25
  • Charlotte Magoon MI-2
    Her campaign website says she will defend clean air standards as part of protecting Michigan's environment.26
  • Kelly Morrison MN-3
    Her campaign website says she opposes the Trump administration’s rollback of pollution regulations.27
  • Wesley Bell MO-1
    His campaign website says he has worked to protect clean air and water standards and to hold polluters accountable.28
  • Zack Mullock NJ-2
    The Environment & Climate section says he would enforce the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act more strictly.29
  • LaMonica R. McIver NJ-10
    Her campaign page on the environment says she supports policies for clean air and water and for investment in renewable energy, and wants frontline communities in the district to have a say in decisions, citing environmental harms that it says fall hardest on lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color.30
  • Deb Haaland NM Governor
    Her healthcare plan says she would enforce New Mexico's methane and air toxics rules for oil and gas operations, set health-based buffer zones between new oil, gas or mining operations and places such as schools and homes, and push back against federal rollbacks.31
  • Tom Tiffany WI Governor
    His campaign website says he would work with the federal government to end vehicle emissions testing requirements in southeastern Wisconsin.32

§3Related bills

Why this matters: Bills from 2023–2026 that bear on this issue, with how Congress handled them.