CONTACT: Sasha Tenenbaum
Senior Manager, Media and Public Engagement
stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org
(917) 887-0146
WHAT: More than 30 Moms Clean Air Force staff, organizers, and members will testify before EPA in support of the agency’s proposed rule to cut climate pollution from heavy-duty vehicles. This proposal is an important step in tackling the climate crisis, which is fueling extreme weather and making it harder to clean up air pollution. Parents across the country want to see a rapid transition to zero-tailpipe-pollution vehicles and are calling on EPA to finalize the strongest possible clean trucks standards this year.
WHO: Moms from the following states will provide testimony: AZ, CO, DC, FL, GA, IA, MD, MI, MT, NC, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, TX, VA, VT, WV. The following impacted residents will be available for interview:
- Mercedes McKinley lives in Las Vegas with her family and serves as one of the Nevada field organizers for Moms Clean Air Force. Mercedes’ home is located close to a major highway, which is used by both locals and a large number of big rigs that move through the Southwest. As a mother to a toddler, she worries about her daughter’s developing lungs.
- Ana Rios lives in Albuquerque with her family and serves as the New Mexico field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. Ana lives just one mile away from an interstate highway, near a railroad, and a few steps from a heavy-duty truck company, where trucks are pulling in and out every hour.
- Jenn Cantley, a mother of three boys with asthma and one of the Nevada field organizers for Moms Clean Air Force, struggles with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a COVID long-hauler. Jenn and her sons live in Carson City, Nevada, just 2.3 miles from Highway 50, a transcontinental highway that spans California to Maryland. Tailpipe pollution can trigger asthma attacks, so transitioning to zero-emission trucks that don’t spew toxic pollution into the air would greatly improve her family’s health.
- Shaina Oliver understands the disproportionate impact of tailpipe pollution on communities of color. As an Indigenous resident of the Northeast Denver Metro area, she and her family, including three sons, live near busy intersections and highway roads. To make matters worse, the Colorado Front Range continues to fail ozone pollution standards set by EPA. Colorado is now the 6th worst state for ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association.
WHEN: The hearing will take place Tuesday, May 2, and Wednesday, May 3. Speakers available for interview are scheduled to testify in the following order during the indicated windows:
- Shaina Oliver: Tuesday, May 2, 11:30 AM–12:45 PM ET
- Ana Rios: Tuesday, May 2, 2:30–3:45 PM ET
- Jenn Cantley: Tuesday, May 2, 6:45–8:00 PM ET
- Mercedes McKinley: Wednesday, May 3, 2:30–3:45 PM ET
All times are approximate and listed in Eastern time (ET). We may be able to provide the media with a recording of each of the above-mentioned testimonies upon request.
WHERE: EPA will hear testimony over Zoom. To register for the hearing, send an email to EPA-HD-hearings@epa.gov.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: