Last month the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new set of standards for soot emission. The Sierra Club published an article attacking the EPA's low standards for soot emission, or particulate matter pollution. The article acknowledges the decrease in daily soot emission allowed, but calls the new standard "weak" and "minimal." Furthermore, the Sierra Club accuses the EPA of aiding the companies responsible for the soot emissions by keeping the standards low, which will put 77 million vulnerable Americans at risk for "deadly pollution," causing "asthma, heart attacks, and even premature death." A news release from the Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News cites evidence released by the EPA putting the cost of stricter standards at $1.9 billion annually, but the potential health costs between $4.3 and $50 billion annually. The EPA defends their decision, citing "insufficient evidence" of the health risks from high levels of soot emission, but both articles conclude by accusing the EPA of basing their decision on what the Sierra Club calls "political science, not medical science."