By: Elizabeth Brandt, Field and Special Projects Manager, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: August 26, 2021
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0208
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Hi. My name is Elizabeth Brandt. I’m Valencia and Natalia’s mom, and I’m a field and special projects manager for Moms Clean Air Force. When my kids and I talk about air pollution, they identify vehicles as the biggest culprit. They are right—pollution from the transportation sector is the nation’s leading source of climate-warming carbon pollution. Tackling pollution from cars and trucks is one of the most important ways we can fight climate change. Please finalize the strongest possible national greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks through model year 2026.
According to the recently released IPCC report, climate change is accelerating. This historically hot summer could be one of the coolest of the next decades. As a parent, that’s heartbreaking. On a recent trip to my hometown in Washington State, I couldn’t help but notice all the ways the climate has changed the landscape in the last decade. The glaciers on Mount Rainier are visibly diminished; even from 100 miles away, the change is starkly apparent. A heatwave shattered all temperature records at home. Farmworkers, who endure hazardous conditions to harvest valuable fruit crops, picked cherries with headlamps at one in the morning to salvage the July cherry harvest. Low water levels and overly warm streams decimate salmon runs, which is bad news for anyone who likes fish, whether you’re an orca whale or a restaurant patron.
Last August and September, the Pacific Northwest was covered by an impenetrable lid of wildfire smoke. I spent days looking for a way to help my sister, Claire, who has asthma, get to a place with clean outdoor air or at least a place with air conditioning. The air quality map for Washington State was unrelentingly purple and red, indicating extremely unhealthy levels of air pollution. The closest place with good air quality was in Wyoming. That’s nearly a thousand miles from Seattle. The only feasible solution for Claire was staying in her home, taping shut the edges of her doors and windows, and eating only cold food as cooking can worsen indoor air quality in these conditions. It was hot in her apartment, and she had no way to cool her home without letting in the filthy air.
This is moving toward a new normal, but it’s not normal. It’s an unacceptable scenario for disproportionately impacted communities, for farm workers, for fishermen, and for our kids, who should be able to play outside without having smoke sting their eyes. In order to prevent our worst-case climate scenario, we must take strong action now to reduce pollution from cars. Climate change is disrupting our lives, so we need to disrupt our approach to reducing climate pollution. Bold action is needed.
The EPA must set the strongest possible federal clean car standards through 2026, avoiding loopholes and putting automakers on track to meet ambitious pollution reduction goals. This proposal is a step toward a safer climate for all of us—but EPA must set more ambitious clean car standards for model year 2027 and beyond. America’s children are counting on us to solve the climate crisis.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.