By: Celerah Hewes, New Mexico Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 2, 2021
About: Environmental Protection Agency Reconsideration of SAFE 1 Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0257
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Celerah Hewes, and I am a Moms Clean Air Force organizer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak today. New Mexico is known for it’s beautiful skies and outdoor spaces, but Albuquerque continues to receive failing ozone grades in the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report, in large part because of vehicle pollution. We are often behind cars and trucks emitting black smoke while driving on even short trips to the store or driving to my daughter’s activities.
That is why I was glad to hear that the EPA has announced its intention to reinstate long-standing authority for states to set their own greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks. From a young age my now eight-year-old daughter was very sensitive to car emissions. She could see the dirty air, something she also points out even when we travel. In fact, she doesn't like visiting family in big cities where traffic pollution is unavoidable. It is our hope that with the Clean Air Act's authority for states to adopt California’s higher standards on vehicles, we will again be able to visit places like New York, Washington, Vermont, and California, and that we will be able to see an improvement in air quality as we spend more time with loved ones there. New Mexico recently passed state-level legislation allowing air quality boards to make regulations more stringent than the federal standards. So, we are hopeful that these higher standards for greenhouse gas emission standards on cars and trucks will also be in New Mexico soon where communities of color are disproportionately impacted.
Reinstating California’s climate action authority—and that of the other states that choose to adopt California’s standards—is a climate win for all of us. States must be able to protect their residents from the carbon pollution contributing to the climate crisis and threatening their health.
Thank you again for your time today.