By: Lorna Perez, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: August 21, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Hello, my name is Lorna Perez and I’m the Florida field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, representing over 186,000 Floridians united against climate change and air pollution. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I’m here to ask that we uphold critical climate protections, including the Endangerment Finding and clean vehicles standards
Year after year in the sunshine state, we see record high heat and more intense storms due to climate warming. The air pollution that is heating our planet and supercharging dangerous extreme weather is also worsening health impacts across our state like heat stroke, asthma, birth complications, mental health impacts, and the spread of diseases after flooding.
Kids' growing bodies are especially vulnerable to these impacts. In the Tampa Bay area, where I live, over 39,000 kids have asthma according to the American Lung Association. We should be doing all we can to reduce air pollution. Rolling back the Endangerment Finding and important limits on tailpipe pollution is a step in the wrong direction.
In 2024 we saw the effects that Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton had on Florida and we are still recovering. Some of my friends' houses were flooded, they’ve spent thousands rebuilding, and they’re still dealing with mold that can harm the health of their families.
The economic toll is heaviest in communities of color and lower income communities. There are more than 396,000 people living in poverty in my home of the Tampa Bay area. We have had the largest wage and rent increase discrepancy in the nation over the last 5 years. Rent has jumped nearly 50% while wages rose just 15%. When climate change-fueled disasters like Helene and Milton hit, it is far more challenging for people living in poverty to recover economically from damage to homes, businesses, and community infrastructure, and housing can become even more scarce when extreme weather devastates communities.
Instead of limiting EPA’s ability to fight climate pollution, by removing the Endangerment Finding, we should be working to strengthen our response to climate change.
Everyone deserves a healthy life, including future generations. We must do all we can to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
We strongly oppose efforts to revoke the Endangerment Finding and clean vehicles rules for the health of our families, communities, and future generations. Thank you.