This week, I joined Senator Martin Heinrich, Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Senator Richard Blumenthal to support The Electrifying America’s Future Resolution and presented these remarks:
The climate crisis is a health crisis that is threatening our children right now. That’s why moms want our leaders to take action to cut the pollution causing climate change. The climate crisis is disproportionately harming black and brown communities.
We need solutions now to ensure our children have a livable, safe and equitable future. One of the most promising things we can do is electrify highly polluting sectors that are making climate change worse, and make our air dirty. Electrifying the appliances and machines that burn fossil fuels will slash the kind of pollution that triggers asthma attacks and heart attacks and sends people to the emergency room.
The Electrifying America’s Future Resolution will help families literally breathe easier as we cut more and more pollution from our buildings as well as from the construction, transportation, and manufacturing sectors. Moms applaud Senator Heinrich for leading the way in transitioning American homes and businesses and prioritizing public health to address the climate crisis.
I want to tell you about my colleague Cinthia Moore, who leads our Latino outreach program, EcoMadres. She lives in Las Vegas, a city that recently received a failing grade for air quality from the American Lung Association, and where there is near-constant construction. Cinthia says: “There’s just heavy vehicles 24-7.” And since moving from a suburb to her predominantly Latino community in the city, Cinthia says the disparity in air quality could not be clearer, as her son, Liam, cannot go outdoors without having a bad reaction: Both she and Liam have suffered respiratory issues. While air purifiers work well enough indoors, Cinthia said, “as soon as he’s outside, he breaks out into rashes and has trouble breathing.” Cinthia is just one of countless moms who find themselves needing to protect their children from air pollution. And yet, we parents can’t control the air our children breathe. We need our leaders to take action to cut harmful air pollution, to protect Liam in Las Vegas and all the children breathing polluted air. Electrifying vehicles, machinery, and appliances will go a long way toward cutting harmful pollution.
With the introduction of the Electrifying America’s Future Resolution, we are one step closer to addressing the climate crisis and helping people like Cinthia and their families breathe clean air again.
TELL CONGRESS: ELECTRIC BUSES ARE THE SMARTEST WAY TO GET TO SCHOOL