Moms Clean Air Force staff and members made news throughout the country this week!
When it comes to clean transportation, our moms have a lot to say. New York-based member and recognized blogger, Alexandra Zissu (see her latest post “Me, My Car, and Trump”) spoke with Energy & Environment News, a top energy industry outlet to sound off on the pushback from Pruis drivers (like herself) to Toyota’s decision to turn its back on our national clean car standards: Alexandra Zissu said, she used to feel pride when driving her Prius around the neighborhood, given its association with sustainability. But now, she feels only “shame and outrage.” “I hope they lose outrageous amounts of money and they rue the day they sided with Trump and decided to pollute our air.”
In Memphis, Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Director, Heather McTeer Toney, discussed the connection between public transportation and children’s health. As Fox13 reported, McTeer Toney focused her remarks on how investment in public transport can improve the health of children in Shelby County and beyond. In short, the fewer number of cars on the road – thanks to public transport – helps the community to “reduce missed days from school, missed days from work, triggers like asthma attacks and lung impacts.”
Meanwhile, a reporter writing on the state of Vermont’s electric school bus pilot cited our advocacy around swapping out diesel buses for new electric models as a way to improve children’s health (by reducing exposure to diesel exhaust).
Moms Clean Air Force Iowa member Edgar East, father of four, a professional musician and educator educator with more than 30 years of experience in the public schools, penned this op-ed in his local newspaper, The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier in support of national legislation that helps our country transition to a clean economy with zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050: “As a parent, I think a lot about what my children’s lives may look like when they are my age. What will become of Iowa and its people with increasingly hot, wet weather? To keep our children safe and avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to act boldly…Join me in asking our representatives to commit us to 100% clean economy by 2050. We will all be better off, and our children are looking to see who will stand up for them. Their futures can’t wait.”
Arizona member Myrelis Dias Martinez who recently traveled to Dallas to give testimony on the dangers of methane pollution penned this op-ed in Spanish in Hispanic LA about methane’s role in accelerating climate change and supercharging storms literally hits home. In September of 2017, Hurricane Maria forced Myrelis to leave her native Puerto Rico and relocate to Arizona. Ever since that displacement, Myrelis has been vocal about how our climate crisis is harming the health, and living conditions of millions of people all around the world.
Moms Clean Air Force Editorial Director Ronnie Citron-Fink, who authored True Roots: What Quitting Hair Dye Taught Me About Health and Beauty garnered praise in this review : “Thankfully Ronnie Citron-Fink is there…as a guide to how and why to let go of hair dye. In [her book], she chronicles her own journey in making the choice to stop dying her hair, and makes the case for why this is better for the environment, for our health, pocketbooks, and ultimately as a way to thumb our noses at the industrial beauty complex that pressures women to look younger, constantly.”
Mississippi native Heather McTeer Toney who serves as the Moms Clean Air Force National Field Director recounts her transformation from former Greenville, MS mayor to environment advocate in this in-depth profile in Mississippi Today.
Meanwhile, the video and full transcript of the keynote talk Heather delivered at the Bioneers conference is now available here. In her keynote, Heather moves past stereotypes to posit the idea that climate action is the social justice issue of our time.
Lastly, a former Moms Clean Air Force field organizer made news recently. Our former organizer in New Hampshire, Becky Whitley, has announced her bid to succeed the State’s House Speaker Senator Dan Feltes. Becky is a children’s behavioral health advocate and lawyer.
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