It’s hard to believe that Moms Clean Air Force, launched in 2011, is celebrating 15 years. “When I started Moms, global warming felt like a far-away problem,” says Dominique Browning, our Director and Co-founder. “It was a danger to polar bears in the Arctic, not to our kids.”
“Over the last 15 years,” she continues, “Moms has worked tirelessly to change that narrative—and to advocate for protections and laws that fight against climate and air pollution. The impacts of climate change aren’t a distant threat—they are happening now, and they are deeply personal. Unprecedented flooding is devastating communities; the cost of cooling during a heat wave is forcing families to make hard financial choices; wildfires can change life as we know it in an instant. Our children, who will inherit this planet and are growing up in this age of climate chaos, have the most at stake.”
“But there is still so much hope for our future if we course correct now, and that’s what keeps me, and this organization, going. Hope, and love: the most sustainable, renewable energy that humans have. Love for our children, our grandchildren, our planet—and yes, the polar bears too.”
The following is a nostalgic and proud look back at how far we have come. Here’s to the next 15!
2011
We have always been about safeguarding all children. The first challenge we took on was getting national EPA standards to protect babies from coal-fired power plant pollution that included air toxics such as mercury. Coal plant pollution settles into our soil, water, and bodies where it converts to a powerful neurotoxin that can disrupt the development of fetal and infant brains. Thanks in part to our efforts, mercury pollution has dropped by 86% since the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards were implemented in 2012. Trump’s EPA has now put these gains at risk, and Moms are poised to push back.
2014
Moms Clean Air Force held the first annual Play-In for Climate Action in 2014. Inspired by the concept of a sit-in, we coined the term “play-in” because kids don’t sit—they play! Over 200 parents and children traveled to Washington, DC, to tell Congress to tackle the challenge of our changing climate by crafting laws to cut carbon and mercury pollution. Members of Congress, including Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Barbara Boxer, joined the inaugural gathering.
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2016
The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in 2016. This law was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and is designed to help protect our children from exposure to toxic chemicals in our products. We were deeply involved at the grassroots level for support of this bill, and Moms Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning was invited to the signing of the bill into law.
2017
Moms Clean Air Force hit its 1 million members milestone in 2017. Today, we are closing in on 2 million, with chapters across the country! Celebrity members of Moms Clean Air Force, Christina Applegate, Julianne Moore, and Maya Rudolph, also took to YouTube and other social media this year to speak about the importance of fighting for strong protections against climate and air pollution and toxic chemicals.
2018
We launched our Latino engagement program, EcoMadres, in 2018. Since then, it has grown into a vibrant community of parents and caregivers mobilizing to educate and activate around the disproportionate toll that air pollution and climate impacts take on Latino communities. The program recently won a Telly Award, and EcoMadres leadership has been recognized by Sachamama and People en Español! In 2022, EcoMadres even launched its EcoMusica group, SonTierra, to inspire hope and action with the power of music.
2019
Our popular Mom Detective Q&A column—inspired by members’ questions about all the shocking toxic chemicals in our everyday stuff—launched in 2019, with an exposé on dental floss. Seven years later, the Mom Detective franchise has helped people navigate everything from bathroom renovations, to heat safety, to wrapping paper, and the column has been featured in SheKnows and NBC’s Modern Parenting segment.
2021
This was a huge year: Moms helped secure passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in rebuilding America’s infrastructure in more than 70 years. Through more than 200 meetings with lawmakers and federal officials, public events, op-eds, and grassroots advocacy, Moms helped secure historic investments to protect children’s health from air pollution and our changing climate—including $5 billion for clean school buses and $4.7 billion to plug orphaned oil and gas wells.
2022
Another huge year: The Inflation Reduction Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in August. This once-in-a-generation legislation includes an unprecedented $369 billion investment in cutting climate pollution. Moms members spent 18 months advocating for several important climate provisions in this bill, holding more than 300 meetings with congressional offices and sending more than 80,000 emails to lawmakers. Moms continue to defend its investments as they are rolled back under Trump.
2024
Moms debuted their first annual summit on children’s health in 2024, which included Chelsea Clinton and EPA Administrator Michael Regan among the esteemed guests. Since then, Moms has convened multiple high-profile events centered on children’s health, including three annual Moms convenings, two EcoMadres summits, and a forum on maternal and child health.
Also in 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged Moms’ electric school bus advocacy in a letter that was read at the annual Play-In for Climate Action. Moms worked tirelessly to ensure that school districts nationwide replace dirty diesel-powered transportation fleets with electric school buses. EPA’s Clean School Bus Program distributed nearly $3 billion and 12,000 school buses between 2022 and 2024 to clean up the nation’s school bus fleet and install the necessary charging infrastructure.
Moms and EcoMadres also worked behind-the-scenes with the offices Representative Jennifer McClellan (VA-4) and Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44) on two important congressional resolutions to protect the health of moms, babies, and children in a changing climate: the Resolution on Children and Extreme Weather and the Protecting Latina Maternal and Infant Health From Extreme Heat and Air Pollution Resolution.
2025
For years, we fought hard for New Mexico’s oil and gas methane pollution protections, giving testimony, writing comments and op-eds, meeting with decision makers. In 2025, methane pollution data collected by satellite shows oil and gas operators on the New Mexico side of the Permian Basin are releasing methane at half the rate of operators next door in Texas, proving that these protections are working! Moms joined Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in Albuquerque to celebrate.
Moms also celebrated with Governor Shapiro when the state of Pennsylvania plugged its 300th orphaned and abandoned oil and gas well, protecting communities from the dangerous pollution that leaks out of them. Moms, who have been urging leaders for years to address orphan well pollution, are teaming up with Environmental Defense Fund to identify them for plugging, and celebrated the 400th well milestone in June 2026!
Moms closed out 2025 by launching the Zeldin Must Go campaign, citing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s corruption of the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment. Moms convened a coalition of more than 190 organizations to demand congressional oversight to ensure that EPA fulfills its core mission. Members of this coalition included the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, Hip Hop Caucus, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other leading groups.
2026
Moms Clean Air Force’s advocacy helped suspend operations or cancel plans for several “advanced recycling” plastics incinerators, which do not actually recycle anything and instead spew harmful pollution into nearby communities. Freepoint Eco-Systems in Hebron, Ohio, suspended operations, and proposed facilities in Point Township, Pennsylvania, as well as Youngstown, Ohio, were cancelled. And the year isn’t over yet!