By: Ali Simpson, National Field Manager, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 2, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0985
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 trucks rule finalized this year.
I live in Westchester County, New York, with my wife and two-year old son, Leo. When our neighbors welcomed us to the neighborhood they said to brace for the winter and the amount of snow our town gets—they’ve lived here for over 30 years and explained that our town that sits north of a major highway is the “snow zone.” It snowed just twice the entire winter—our neighbors simply couldn’t believe it. We were excited to take Leo skiing for the first time this year, but the mountain near us barely had any snow days—the live shots of the mountain showed huge patches of dirt where snow usually is.
We live in a rural area with a creek in our backyard. We love nature and wanted to raise our son in a place where it surrounded him every day. Last month our dog came into the house with two ticks climbing on her—I checked her and our son thoroughly for more ticks, thankfully there weren’t any. When I got on the phone with our tick control company, they were shocked. This was a full two months before they begin their tick control and pointed to climate change and the unexpected heat so early in the year that’s brought the ticks out already. I asked them if that’s why many of the plants had died and they said the heat and the drought scorched plants across the county. The impacts of climate change are here. They are all around us. We deal with it on a daily basis in ways obvious and not so obvious.
We must do everything in our power to cut greenhouse gas emissions to stave off the worst impacts of climate change to avert major catastrophe. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, making up 27% of all emissions. This proposed EPA rule on heavy duty trucks will go a long way to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and stopping climate change to secure a safe future for my child, and children across the country.
I dream of the day when the trucks that my son points out on the road are fully electric, with no black exhaust, and no toxic smells, and no harmful air pollution that has such terrible impacts on the health of our communities and the most vulnerable among us. By the time he gets old enough to testify to EPA himself, I hope that’s the reality. I’m doing everything in my power to make this happen. Moms Clean Air Force is calling on EPA to finalize the strongest possible clean trucks standards—consistent with the Advanced Clean Trucks rule—this year. Thank you for your time.