Once a year, we take time to reflect on all the amazing accomplishments our Moms team has made over the last 12 months. Reviewing this particular year has been both emotional and beautiful. A group of overachiever caregivers fueled by love for children apparently cannot help but produce as much work as humanly possible to create a safer, cleaner, kinder world for all.
The numbers alone are stunning: Our members sent more than 152,900 messages to the White House, EPA, Congress, and state and local officials about clean air and climate protections! We had more than 100 meetings with elected officials at all levels of government and more than 300 in-person and virtual events in communities across the country! We appeared in 3,856 articles, broadcasts, op-eds, and letters to the editor, in outlets large and small—sharing stories that inspire, educate, and drive action! Our fact sheets and resources were read by 55,700 people! For the first time in our history, we supported the introduction of 2 congressional resolutions related to climate and health with support from 44 members of Congress!
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Here are just a few highlights of our work from 2024:
January
Georgia Moms kicked off 2024 by joining EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Senator Raphael Warnock in DeKalb County for the announcement of $1 billion in new grant funding for emissions-free electric school buses that will clean up the air for our kids and our communities.
By the end of 2024, 868 school districts in 49 states and Washington, DC, were shepherding children to school on nearly 5,000 electric buses. Another 7,000+ have been awarded to districts through EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.
February
Clean Air Kid Leena, a fifth grader from Virginia Beach, introduced Administrator Regan at the signing of important new protections for soot pollution that will save lives, prevent asthma attacks, and avoid many other health harms. The new standards came on the heels of months of advocacy by Moms, including 60 oral testimonies and more than 11,500 written comments in favor of strong protections.
We also hosted our inaugural Climate Disruption, Air Pollution, and Young People’s Health convening (a.k.a. #MomsClimateSummit)—bringing Administrator Regan, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, Chelsea Clinton, plus leading researchers, policymakers, mental health experts, doctors, and environmental justice advocates together for crucial conversations about children’s health in a changing climate. Thousands of people tuned in on Instagram and YouTube to learn what we can do to clean up the air and protect the climate for our kids.
March
Moms were ecstatic to see many health-protective rules we fought hard for all of 2023 at long last finalized this spring. We joined hundreds of elected officials and advocates at the DC Armory to celebrate Administrator Regan’s announcement of stronger tailpipe pollution rules in March.
April
Moms were part of an emotional crowd of environmental justice luminaries who witnessed Regan’s signing of a consequential chemical manufacturing rule that will reduce the pollution burden for historically marginalized communities living near some of the most dangerous petrochemical facilities in the nation.
We also convened at Howard University for “Power-palooza,” an EPA event celebrating the signing of a suite of new rules targeting pollution from fossil fuel power plants, including mercury and other air toxics.
May
Moms hosted a session addressing the intersection of climate, health equity, and children’s health in Tribal communities at the 2024 National Tribal Forum on Air Quality. They shared some of our own work as an ally of the National Tribal Air Association (NTAA) and prompted panelists, including Tribal members and an epidemiologist, to discuss the necessity of more funding for Tribal air quality programs, the health impacts of air pollution in Indigenous communities, and ways to engage Indigenous caregivers in meaningful action for clean air.
Building on our learnings from the forum, we later called on Congress to invest in Tribal air quality programs as they develop the next EPA budget.
June
Through our Moms & Mayors program, which connects caregivers with their elected officials, Florida Moms joined State Representative Jennifer “Rita” Harris in Orlando to celebrate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund investments in Florida. Thanks to the largest climate legislation in U.S. history—the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—cities and localities can choose from an array of funding opportunities for local environmental improvements including this fund, a first-of-its-kind, national-scale program created to invest in renewable energy deployment across the country, especially in historically underserved neighborhoods.
Moms organizers in states nationwide are reaching out to officials to ensure IRA funding gets to the communities that need it most—and celebrating each investment in a cleaner, safer world.
July
Our annual Play-In for Climate Action at the National Children’s Museum in Washington, DC, had a special guest in 2024: After a year of behind-the-scenes work with Moms Clean Air Force, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan joined us to introduce a congressional resolution calling attention to children’s unique vulnerabilities to extreme weather—and advocating for urgently needed adaptations to keep kids safe.
Senator Jeff Merkley was also in attendance and spoke about the dangers of plastic and petrochemical pollution, as did Heather McTeer Toney, Executive Director of Beyond Petrochemicals. The inspiring program also included Eva Lighthiser, one of 16 youth plaintiffs who sued Montana for the right to a stable climate.
August
Congresswomen Lauren Underwood and Alma Adams invited Moms to Chicago for the 2024 Black Maternal Health Caucus Stakeholder Summit. Together with actress and singer Tatyana Ali and other partners, they talked about ways to ensure pregnant people get the care they need and opportunities to advance maternal health legislation.
Moms’ Latino engagement program, EcoMadres, was on hand later in the year flanking Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán as she introduced the Protecting Latina Maternal and Infant Health Resolution, which recognizes the threat of extreme heat and air pollution to Latina pregnancies. And we published fact sheets on Black and Latina maternal health.
September
Moms crisscrossed traffic-strewn New York City to participate in several Climate Week events, from a panel for Extreme Weather Survivors, to lessons on how to avoid chemicals in household products, to a lunch and learn about environmental justice. The highlight of the week was The Atlantic’s panel discussion “Building a Sustainable Future,” where Moms’ Co-Founder Dominique Browning reminded us that her goal with this organization is to harness “that power of love for the people we have brought into the world or the people we care for … into political and regulatory and policy action.”
October
Moms and EcoMadres’ inaugural Extreme Weather Impacts on Latina Maternal and Children’s Health Summit was held in Phoenix, Arizona. This event brought together community leaders, health care professionals, and policymakers to tackle the unique climate-related health challenges disproportionately impacting Latino communities. It featured vibrant performances by EcoMusica, an initiative of EcoMadres formed to emphasize the significance of music as a language that fosters trust and connection within Latino communities.
November
Moms and our partners celebrated a big victory in Youngstown, Ohio, when the city council approved a second yearlong moratorium on the development of a facility that would burn tires and plastics. This is just one of many communities where Moms Clean Air Force is fighting “advanced recycling” plastic burning facilities and other petrochemical industry buildout.
We are also working on the ground in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Arizona, and meeting with members of Congress across the country to raise the alarm about a federal bill that would spark the proliferation of plastics-burning facilities exempted from air pollution controls nationwide.
December
As Moms regroups and prepares for a new administration to take over in January 2025, we are discussing behind-the-scenes how our unique love-fueled advocacy can continue to create a safer, cleaner, kinder world for all, and especially our children, with a government that doesn’t believe in climate change.