AirAid update:
Edwards, Gore Send Statements to Be Read at AirAid
Crowe to Attend, Read Work Composed for Event

August 4, 2005

Former U.S. Senator John Edwards and former Vice-President Al Gore have sent written statements to be read at the AirAid event scheduled for August 26 in Asheville, North Carolina. And internationally recognized poet Thomas Rain Crowe will read a work he composed especially for AirAid, an event organized by the Canary Coalition for the purpose of focusing national attention on the health and environmental impacts of poor air quality in the Smoky Mountain and greater Appalachian region.

"This cause is so important. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us to leave them a world that is safe for them to live in, and they deserve to experience the true beauty of the Smoky Mountain region", entreats Senator Edwards.

"The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the country's greatest natural landmarks - the most visited National Park in our nation. Sadly, though, it is the most polluted national park and people living in that area are now suffering from the consequences such as asthma, emphysema and heart disease...Organizations such as the Canary Coalition are leading the charge to address the global environmental crisis we now face", explains former Vice-President Gore.

Thomas Raine Crowe, whose recently published book of memoirs, Zoro's Field was greeted with critical acclaim, is the recipient of numerous awards for his socially expressive poetry and was honored in 2000 when Duke University purchased rights to his lifetime works for its library. Crowe has expressed strong emotions about the health and environmental devastation resulting from air pollution in the mountains of North Carolina and was active in helping to found the Canary Coalition in 2000. He is a native North Carolinian and now resides in Cullowhee.

These additions to the program at AirAid will supplement the musical performances, of nationally popular singer/songwriter Steve Earle, Larry and Jenny Keel of Natural Bridge and Steve (Big Daddy) McMurray of Acoustic Syndicate.  Other speakers at the event will include former chairman of the national American Lung Association Dr. Anthony Deluccia, N.C. State Representative Susan Fisher, Asheville City Councilman Brownie Newman, Marjorie Mulhall of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Canary Coalition Executive Director Avram Friedman. AirAid is being produced with the assistance of All Access Event Management who also produces Smilefest and numerous other large music festivals throughout the Southeast. The event will be held at The Orange Peel, on Biltmore Avenue, in Asheville.

AirAid will be preceded by the 100-mile, 24-hour Relay for Clean Air along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a "civil rights" march proclaiming the message, "We all have the right to breathe clean air."

"It seems as though meteorological, environmental and political events are conspiring with us this year to help make our point and broadcast our message at this time", comments Avram Friedman of the Canary Coalition.  "We're experiencing one code orange day after the next at high elevations this summer. According to N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper the EPA has failed to act adequately in responding to North Carolina's 126 petition against 13 upwind states that are contributing to poor air quality in our state. There couldn't be a better time for the people of this region to make the statement being shouted by AirAid and The Relay for Clean Air. 'We have the right to breathe clean air. We want responsible government action, now!' "
For more information about AirAid visit www.airaid.info