EPA announced a next-level proposal last month that would prevent all future administrations from regulating climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector. You read that right. Not just for now—but forever. It’s the latest in a string of outrageous and unusual federal attacks on our ability to cut the climate pollution that is putting our families’ health and future at risk.
Moms. Are. Livid. That’s why 14 of us showered EPA with our outrage at a virtual public hearing about the proposal last week. And thankfully, we weren’t alone. Moms’ Elizabeth Bechard, who listened in on the first day’s testimony, shares, “I didn’t hear a single person testifying in favor of the proposal; people seem even angrier during this hearing than during previous hearings.” We’re angry because this proposal flies in the face of what we know about the very real impacts of climate change on people’s, especially children’s, health. Plus, we know this administration is driving up our electricity bills—and our health care costs—by propping up fossil fuels while blocking the expansion of clean energy.
Tell EPA: Don’t Backslide on Cutting Power Sector Climate Pollution
Read on for a sampling of our most compelling testimony:
Almeta Cooper, Washington, DC
“It is EPA and Secretary Zeldin’s clear responsibility to protect clean air and limit the pollution that is driving climate chaos and endangering human health and welfare. As an African American woman and because of my life experiences, I care deeply about environmental, climate, and health justice. As a grandmother of a one-year grandson, I worry about the long-lasting health harms connected to air pollution and climate pollution that are affecting health—especially our nation’s most vulnerable populations in Black, Brown, and low-income communities, and in particular, our children.”
Elizabeth Hauptman, Michigan
“The Carbon Rule was a safeguard. It was a promise that power plants would be held accountable for the pollution they put into our air and our atmosphere. Now EPA has repealed those protections and is proposing to go even further by eliminating the federal government’s ability to limit climate pollution from power plants altogether.
“I know these rules can sound abstract when we talk about them in Washington. But they are not abstract to families like mine in Michigan. They are about whether a child with asthma can safely play soccer outside. They are about whether parents have to check the air quality before sending their kids outdoors. They are about whether the next wildfire smoke event, heat wave, or extreme storm is going to be even more dangerous. And they are about the world our children will inherit from us. As a mother, I cannot look at my son and say, We knew what was happening, but we decided not to act.”
Read Elizabeth’s full testimony.
Ali Simpson, New York
As a mom of two young children, this is heartbreaking and maddening. This is an abject failure to fulfill EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment. Climate pollution from power plants is heating the planet, supercharging dangerous extreme weather, and endangering human health and welfare. Power plants are responsible for roughly a quarter of climate-heating pollution in the U.S. Approximately 60% of power generation comes from burning fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. These are the facts. Stating that power plant pollution is not harmful, and that EPA cannot regulate carbon pollution from power plants does not make it so.”
Barbara Weber, California
“We understand what is happening here: an attempt to erase the Clean Air Act’s power to protect us from climate pollution, first from our tailpipes and now from power plant smokestacks. Weakening climate pollution limits at the very moment energy demand is surging from data center expansion isn’t just dangerous; it defies common sense.
“The health costs are staggering, and EPA refused to count them. Using EPA’s own emissions projections, the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that the rollback EPA just finalized will cause, by 2047, up to 84,000 premature deaths, 29 million asthma attacks, more than 100,000 hospital and emergency room visits, and 13 million lost work and school days. The impacts of the proposal before you today could go even further.”
Read Barbara’s full testimony.
Tell EPA: Don’t Backslide on Cutting Power Sector Climate Pollution