By: Ali Simpson, National Field Manager, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 9, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to give testimony today. My name is Ali Simpson. I am a National Field Manager for Moms Clean Air Force, an organization of over 1.5 million parents and caregivers advocating for clean air and a healthy climate on behalf of children nationwide. I’m here today to speak in support of the strongest possible clean cars rule finalized this year.
I would like to thank EPA for making this clean cars proposed rule multipollutant to regulate both greenhouse gas emissions and tailpipe pollution including NOx and soot, which contribute greatly to both climate change and harmful air pollution. As transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States, making up 27% of all emissions, we need to be as aggressive as possible in curbing the pollution from this source.
Having been born and raised in Los Angeles and spending the first 24 years of my life there, you are acutely aware of the precariousness of the environment even before you’re school age. I was raised in a family that is extremely climate conscious. We had to be. We lived in a permanent drought—with commercials on TV asking you to turn off your sprinklers and take short showers. We were kept inside during recess and lunch on bad air days. You become accustomed to seeing the near-permanent haze on the horizon that was only washed away after a rare rain. Decades later, Los Angeles STILL tops the American Lung Association’s air report on the most polluted cities in the US for ozone and particle pollution. We have the power to change this. This rule can help turn around the terrible fact that 36% of Americans—nearly 120 million people—live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2023 State of the Air Report.
My parents were early adopters of hybrid cars and later electric cars, a habit that was passed down to me. When I told my parents my wife was pregnant with our son, my dad’s third comment was “wow I bet he’ll never even drive a car with an internal combustion engine, how cool is that.” I hope that’s the case for not only my son, but for millions of Americans across the country. This rule helps us get to this future, a future where we no longer need to worry about harmful tailpipe pollution and its devastating health impacts, including:
- Asthma attacks
- Respiratory and cardiovascular harm
- Increased hospital admissions and emergency department visits
- Premature death
- Increased risk of infections
- Cognitive problems
- Adverse birth outcomes
- Lung cancer
This rulemaking can do something extraordinary. The vehicles covered by this rule will be on the road for decades to come. Myself and other parents around the country want to see a rapid transition to zero-emissions vehicles, and Moms Clean Air Force is calling on EPA to finalize the strongest possible clean cars standards this year.
Thank you.