By: Candi Hurst, West Virginia Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: November 7, 2024
Event: Rally Against Dirty Hydrogen Development in Our Communities, Dunbar, West Virginia
Good evening, everyone. My name is Candi Hurst, and I am the West Virginia Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, an organization of over 1.5 million moms, dads, and caregivers committed to protecting the health of our children from air pollution. I have lived in West Virginia all my life, and my family has lived in the Mountain State for many generations. I can attest to the fact that we are a proud and resilient community. We work hard for our families and are committed to protecting our air, land, and water for future generations.
I have four children who are growing up splashing in the waters of the Potomac River in Hedgesville and exploring the trails of the Monongahela National Forest when we visit family in other parts of the state.
Like all moms, my greatest desire is for my children to be safe and healthy.
But I am all too familiar with the harms of fossil fuel and petrochemical development. In my time living in the Ohio River Valley, I saw rare childhood cancers and chronic respiratory issues become alarmingly common in the community. It was clear that something was not right. As a social worker, I saw families already struggling to make ends meet who were also being disproportionately affected by air pollution.
The Appalachian hydrogen hub, also known as ARCH2, would bring more fracking and petrochemical pollution along with dangerous new pipelines to our communities. It will use dirty fossil fuels to make petrochemicals and hydrogen using risky, experimental technology to capture and store CO2 waste beneath our feet. This hydrogen hub is a bad deal for Appalachia and for our families.
As a parent, it can feel overwhelming to confront these realities. I sometimes wish I could put my kids in a bubble to keep them safe. But we cannot live in bubbles, nor should we have to. We should not have to worry about the air our children breathe or whether the creeks our children play in are filled with toxic chemicals. We should not have to wonder if their growing lungs are inhaling harmful pollutants that could trigger an asthma attack or lead to other serious health conditions.
The evidence is clear. Hundreds of scientific studies have shown associations between fossil fuel and petrochemical operations and serious health impacts for nearby residents. We’re talking about respiratory problems, headaches, heart-related complications, mental health issues, and birth defects. The health of our children should never be a gamble.
Heading down the wrong path with hydrogen development would mean locking ourselves into a future of more fracking, more petrochemical buildout, more air and water pollution, and more dangerous pipelines. The risks are far too high, and the potential harm to our families is unimaginable.
This issue goes beyond politics and partisanship. I do my best to protect the health of my children, but I can't control the air they breathe outside my home. For this, I depend on West Virginia’s elected officials and Department of Environmental Protection to do their jobs and protect them. It is their responsibility to ensure that we have a safe environment in which to raise our families. Today, I am calling on our leaders to make that future a possibility. It starts by listening to the communities who would be impacted by this development and rejecting the buildout of fossil fuel and petrochemical projects needed to support the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub.
Every child deserves to breathe clean air. Thank you.