CONTACT: DKC News, MomsCleanAirForce@dkcnews.com
Phoenix, Arizona — Moms Clean Air Force, Arizona State Senator Lauren Kuby, and local advocates gathered for a press conference on April 18 to denounce the Trump administration’s policies that put the power of the federal government behind boosting corporate polluter profits while putting zero value—literally—on human lives.
This administration’s scorched earth approach is turning the government against its people: letting polluters poison the air and water, subverting the missions of agencies charged with protecting public health and safety, denying established climate science, dismantling the protections meant to limit life-threatening pollution and to alert people to life-threatening extreme heat, and denying desperately needed federal aid.
As Arizonians call for more protection of our environment and climate in the leadup to Earth Day, speakers at the news conference spotlight the harms the Trump administration’s actions have had on Arizona’s climate and communities.
Watch the recording on Moms Clean Air Force’s YouTube.
QUOTES FROM SPEAKERS:
“Across Arizona, leaders, health professionals, and advocates are working together to protect families, defend science, and advance real solutions that put people first,” says Pita Juarez, Arizona Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force. “That is why we are here today, to shine a light on what is happening, to lift up those solutions, and to make clear that Arizona families deserve clean air, safe communities, and a future worth fighting for.”
“Federal rollbacks on pollution limits come at the worst possible time for Arizona, a state on the frontlines of the climate crisis, be it drought, extreme heat, flooding from severe storms, poor air quality, or the lack of a just transition for coal-impacted communities,” says Arizona State Senator Lauren Kuby, Senate District 8. “At the same time, the EPA’s attacks on clean energy are slowing down the very solutions we need to respond to the climate crisis.”
“Revoking the Environmental Protection Agency’s requirement to protect people from the pollution that causes climate change is not supported by science or by common sense, and is frankly immoral as it puts the well-being of both current and future generations at risk. It is especially irresponsible and unnecessary as we know what to do about climate change,” says Sandy Bahr, Director, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter. “Cleaner solutions are available and are also the most affordable solutions. Attacking the legal basis for keeping communities healthy and safe makes no sense for our health or our wallets. We simply cannot afford this polluter first agenda by Trump and Zeldin and must put a stop to it. Our health and our future depend on it.”
“It is our most vulnerable community members who are disproportionately impacted by extreme weather, bearing the brunt of heat-related illnesses and deaths.” says Nile Bunger, Climate Justice Director, Arizona Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander for Equity. “It is time that we start naming it for what it is – extreme heat is deadly and kills more people than any other extreme weather collectively.”
“This administration is dismantling all the tools we have in place to protect people from the impacts of the current climate crisis created by corporate polluters,” says Jess Bristow, Senior Digital and Community Organizer, Chispa AZ. “The people hit hardest by these rollbacks are communities that are already overburdened and have the least power to fight back: babies and children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic illness, and communities of color and low-income people. We know that this president is essentially in power to create greater profits for his friends. We must do everything in our power to hold this administration accountable for protecting people and our environment, not his friends’ corporate profits.”