As a new mom, our North Carolina field coordinator, Chelsea Lyons (above), has a lot on her plate. But with the climate crisis heating up and air pollution posing an ever-present threat, Chelsea’s concerns for her son’s well-being extend far beyond establishing a feeding schedule and bedtime routine. In a letter to the editor of the Raleigh News & Observer, Chelsea writes: “I’m afraid he won’t have a sustainable future or the ability to grow his own family due to pollution and the increased costs it will bring. I am afraid to see what will happen to our planet and how our children will have to adapt to survive without us.”
Cleaning up the power sector is key to cutting air pollution and tackling the climate crisis, but over half of US electricity is still sourced from fossil fuels. Burning these fuels produces pollution that destabilizes our climate and harms our lungs, hearts, and brains. One particularly dangerous pollutant known as soot is among the leading causes of premature death worldwide.
If we are to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis and realize a healthier future for our children, we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels now. That’s why Chelsea uses her letter to the editor to urge her state’s utilities commission to deny a natural gas-heavy “carbon plan” and to request a new proposal that prioritizes clean energy. Chelsea puts it best: “Ignoring the grip climate change has on us is negligent… There is no time to waste when it comes to clean air.”
In the Midwest, Iowa field coordinator Karin Stein has also been advocating for cleaner energy in her state. The Iowa Utilities Board is currently considering a project that hinges on the continued operation of five coal-burning power plants. Karin and other Iowa clean air advocates are pressing the state to consider an alternative plan that would retire these pollution producers and deliver significant cost savings while cutting climate pollution.
6 News WOWT and dozens of other outlets quote Karin in their reports on the project. Karin says: “With far healthier alternatives to energy generation than coal, it is simply not conscionable to burden our children’s air with pollution from coal plants.” Karin emphasizes that pollution from these dirty energy sources isn’t distributed equally: “In Iowa, the proportion of Latinos and other people of color in neighborhoods near MidAmerican’s remaining coal plants is significant, so producing energy from coal is also an environmental justice concern.”
“ALL EYES ON GEORGIA”
Our National Manager for Health Equity Almeta Cooper and Environmental Defend Fund’s Tonya Calhoun penned a joint Word In Black op-ed encouraging Georgians to vote in the state’s recent runoff election. Almeta and Tonya underscore the significance of going to the polls for our kids, climate, and public health: “This election is about harnessing our power and making our voices heard to better protect our communities from the harsh realities of the overdependence on dirty fossil fuels, extreme weather events, poor air quality, worsening childhood asthma rates, and unstable energy prices.”
Unfortunately, families of color often bear the brunt of these “harsh realities.” Almeta and Tonya write: “For far too long, Black and Brown communities in Georgia and across the nation have been subject to discrimination that has disproportionately exposed us to toxic levels of pollution in our air, soil, and water… We demand a leader who has the will and determination to prioritize community-led climate solutions and shape policies that will continue to strengthen a healthy, resilient, equitable future for generations to come.”
UNITED FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE
Moms Clean Air Force teams up with partners to ask leaders at local, state, and federal levels to protect our health. Here are some recent collaborations covered by the media:
Pennsylvania Moms and their allies launched an accountability campaign targeting the new Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County. The plant produces the building blocks of plastic along with large amounts of harmful air pollution that puts nearby residents at risk, including our Ohio River Valley organizer, Rachel Meyer, and her family. PA Environment Digest Blog and Pittsburgh Business Times cover the initiative.
In Florida, Moms joined forces with 15 other climate justice organizations to call on leaders in the state legislature to create a joint commission on the climate crisis. As reported in Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel, Floridians are already struggling with climate hazards like hurricanes, flooding, and unsafe water. Without timely action, these threats are virtually guaranteed to become more and more dangerous.
Moms and partners also collaborated on a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, urging him to take steps to address the environmental threats and injustices that jeopardize maternal health across the nation and make pregnancy and labor particularly dangerous for birthing people of color. Read the full letter via Human Rights Watch’s newsroom.
DRIVING DOWN POLLUTION
Back in October, EPA announced that school districts in all 50 states and the District of Columbia will receive funding to replace diesel school buses with zero-pollution electric ones through the Clean School Bus Program. Our Public Health Policy Director Molly Rauch released a statement that was referenced in ENVIRO 360 and hundreds of other outlets.
Our Georgia organizer Lily Zwaan and her partners in the state celebrated the funding by planning a press conference in Clayton County. The event was covered by several Atlanta-based outlets and, most recently, by Clayton News Daily.
SHOUT-OUTS:
- Kids Clean Air Force appears in EPA’s Year One Anniversary Report on the Bipartisan Infrastructure law (see page 10).
- Yahoo! News ran EcoMadres Program Manager Carolina Peña-Alarcón’s INSIDER essay about why she voted for the first time in the November midterm election.
- An EDF Voices post points to Moms Clean Air Force’s efforts to mobilize school districts to apply for EPA Clean School Bus funding as an example of community outreach at its best.
- PA Environment Digest Blog included Moms Clean Air Force Pensylvannia’s press release in an article about EPA’s proposed methane rule. Moms’ reaction to the EPA rule was also mentioned in the Pittsburgh Business Times.
- Moms signed onto a letter urging President Biden to act quickly on soot pollution standards, citing evidence that strong protections could prevent up to 20,000 deaths annually. The letter was covered in Washington Post, E&E News, Inside EPA, Inside Climate News, and Washington Informer.
TELL EPA: FINALIZE STRONG METHANE RULES TO PROTECT CHILDREN’S HEALTH
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