Late last month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin finalized a rollback to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), critical protections that help keep mercury and other dangerous pollutants out of our air, waterways, and food supply. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that can settle into water supplies and accumulate in fish. With this new rollback, coal plants will be allowed to emit more mercury and other air toxics.
In response to the rollback, Moms Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning released a statement condemning Zeldin for betraying his agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment. She is quoted in S&P Global and Common Dreams, underscoring that scientists are abundantly clear that no amount of mercury is safe for babies and children.
Public Health Manager Elizabeth Bechard warns in a WRAL News interview and article that if people who are pregnant ingest mercury, it can cross the placental barrier and get into a developing baby’s brain.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission
In other news
- Senior Manager Liz Hurtado writes in a Hispanic LA op-ed about how loving her children continually motivates her to fight the Trump EPA’s attacks on climate protections.
- In an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, West Virginia Field Organizer Lani Wean warns that a proposed incineration facility, currently planned near a high school, public library, and elementary school, will pose threats to local children and families.
- Moms’ outrage across the country about EPA’s February repeal of the Endangerment Finding, the legal foundation of the agency’s ability to cut climate pollution, continues. Dominique is quoted in Landmark Earth and WORT 90.9 explaining why families should be concerned.
- National Manager for Health Justice Almeta Cooper is featured in Climate Gendered, Nevada Field Organizer Mary Wagner is interviewed on Noticias Telemundo, and Liz Hurtado is quoted in El Dia News and France 24 about the disproportionate effects Black, Latino, and low-income communities will face from EPA’s decision to stop limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
- Arizona Field Organizer Pita Juarez (pictured) raises awareness about the current state of climate protections and implications for Latino families on LA Onda 99.5FM & 1190 AM Radio.
- Arizona Moms held a press conference to condemn Zeldin’s rollback of the Endangerment Finding in partnership with members from Arizona’s House of Representatives, the state’s Attorney General’s Office, and the Sierra Club. Pita is featured in AZ Central, Conecta Arizona, and the AZ Mirror, demanding that Arizonans receive greater protections from illness and death related to climate-fueled extreme heat. Michigan Moms held a similar press conference with Rep. Debbie Dingell, as featured in Michigan Advance.
- In an interview with in KHSU Radio, Elizabeth Bechard dives into how she speaks to her kids about climate change and works to protect them amid an unprecedented crisis of federal rollbacks.
Honorable mentions
Over the last few weeks, Moms earned a mention in Morning Overview.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission