By: Carolina Peña, Project Manager for EcoMadres, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 13, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am Carolina Peña, program manager for EcoMadres, the Latino engagement program of Moms Clean Air Force. We are a community of over 1.5 million moms, dads, and caregivers nationwide united to protect children from air pollution and climate change.
I am Bolivian and live in Arlington, Virginia.
We are facing a global systemic health emergency associated with the generation and use of energy from the fossil fuel industry, which has caused natural disasters to triple over the last 50 years. There have been more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and our basic common bond—that we all need clean air to breathe—has been jeopardized.
As a Latina and outdoor enthusiast, I am concerned about temperatures and heat waves that are expected to increase in intensity and frequency in the United States and around the world because of climate change. As another early season heat wave hammers the US northwest, with experts predicting more for the summer to come, it is increasingly vital to understand how high temperatures affect our bodies and brains and, more importantly, how we can protect ourselves and others.
There is a limit at which the human body can adapt to heat, and the hottest weather will affect livelihoods that involve significant outdoor physical activity, such as agricultural and construction work. Farmworkers are up to 35 times more likely than other workers to die from the extreme heat that has gripped much of the US.
Air quality declines as climate change accelerates, but both share a common solution. It is time to require fossil fuel power plants to drive down their emissions with the most stringent requirements. The good news is that we have abundant sources of clean and sustainable energy, like wind and solar.
Today, more than ever, we must unite and address the roots of the climate crisis, so that we not only solve climate disasters, but the damage caused to our health, including honoring the health of high-risk workers as we are also protecting the food supply chain.
Once again, I support the Carbon Rule and call on EPA to strengthen community input and safeguards in the final version of this rule. It is time to stop allowing the fossil fuel industry to dictate our destiny. Let's come together to build a better world for everyone, because everyone has the right to breathe clean air.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.