Moms Clean Air Force to Testify about Life-Threatening Impact of Administration’s Policies on Children’s Health: A Statement from Heather McTeer Toney and Media Availability Info
PRESS STATEMENT AND ADVISORY
Contact:
Sasha Tenenbaum, stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org, 917-887-0146
WASHINGTON, DC (February 5, 2020) – On Thursday, February 6, Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Director Heather McTeer Toney will provide witness testimony at a House hearing (Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on the Environment) on Capitol Hill as part of a two-day, in-depth set of hearings examining the harm to children’s well-being that will result from a series of regulations proposed by the Trump administration.
Heather McTeer Toney is one of three witnesses scheduled to testify at this hearing focused specifically on our nation’s life-saving Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). This will mark the second time Heather has appeared on the Hill to serve as a witness to Congress on how children would be harmed by any effort to undermine the MATS rule. At the time of her last appearance on the Hill to discuss this issue, last spring (May 20, 2019), Heather opined in The Hill about this direct threat to our children’s health.
WHAT: “A Threat to America’s Children: The Trump Administration’s Proposal to Undermine Protections from Mercury Air Toxics Standards,” a hearing organized by the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on the Environment
WHO: Heather McTeer Toney, Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Director, is available for comment before and after the hearing
WHEN: February 6, 2020, at 2:00PM EST
WHERE: Tune in to watch the hearing live at https://oversight.house.gov/legislation/hearings or join us in person in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building
STATEMENT:
One day ahead of the congressional hearing focused on the administration’s proposal to undermine our Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Director Heather McTeer Toney issued this statement:
“It’s unbelievable that the Trump administration is still trying to undermine a successful federal standard that protects children’s brains and bodies from mercury, a harmful heavy metal that comes from coal plant smokestacks. This is a classic case of, if it’s not broken, then don’t fix it. There is absolutely no reason to weaken a rule with bipartisan support that has effectively slashed the mercury pollution in our air and waterways. The funny thing is no one wants to see this dangerous attack on the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards move forward—not even the regulated industry itself. No one, that is, except coal industry executives. This is a freebie to the coal industry, at the expense of our children’s health. As a mom, I cannot abide the Trump administration’s mercury proposal, which would weaken the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. No amount of mercury is safe for a child’s developing brain. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards must be left in place and kept strong.”
MEDIA AVAILABILITY:
Heather McTeer Toney is available for comment today (February 5), directly after the hearing on Thursday afternoon (February 6), and again on Friday morning (February 7). Please contact Sasha Tenenbaum, stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org, 917-887-0146, to schedule an interview.
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About Moms Clean Air Force: Moms Clean Air Force is a community of over one million moms—and dads—working together to fight air pollution, including the urgent crisis of our changing climate. For more information, go to http://www.momscleanairforce.org/ or follow us on Twitter @CleanAirMoms, Instagram @cleanairmoms, or Facebook.