By: Ana Rios, New Mexico field coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: April 12, 2022
About: Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards Proposed Rule, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0055
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Ana Rios. I am the field organizer with Moms Clean Air Force in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I have three children, and like any mother, they are my priority, and I want the best for them. I want them to grow up in a healthy community free of pollution. EPA’s proposal to limit truck pollution is a welcome step forward. But it doesn’t go far enough. Moms and dads across the country want to see a rapid transition to zero-emitting trucks. We need cleaner air for our children and our communities.
My family and I live in the San Jose neighborhood in Albuquerque, which is well-known in the city as a low-income area, where people of color and Latino community live, and most notably because it is surrounded by pollution. My house is located one mile away from an interstate highway, near the railroad, and even worse, a few steps away from what used to be an oil transfer station and is now a heavy-duty truck company.
That is why I’m here today, because my family and I are part of a community highly affected by climate pollution caused by transportation, and I am very concerned about how these circumstances may affect my children's development and their future with transportation being responsible for 29% of all climate pollution.
As a family concerned about the climate conditions we are living in, we installed a photovoltaic energy system on our house, and we use an electric vehicle to reduce the environmental impact of vehicle use, but we are only one family, and there is no time to waste. EPA must enact standards that put the American truck and bus fleet on a clear roadway to 100% zero-emission sales by 2035. Eliminating emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, especially through a rapid transition to zero-emission vehicles, is essential for making strides toward desperately needed cleaner air in these communities and a safer climate.
Please strengthen the final standards, to better protect children, people with asthma, older adults, and other vulnerable groups from the health harms of air pollution. Everyone has the right to breathe clean air.
I am doing my part to take care of the environmental crisis. What are you doing about it?
Thank you so much for the opportunity to give my testimony today.