By: Elizabeth Brandt, 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
Hello, and thank you for listening to my testimony today. My name is Elizabeth Brandt. I am a social worker and a national field manager for Moms Clean Air Force. Moms Clean Air Force is an organization of more than 1.5 million parents across the US who are taking action against air pollution and climate change.
EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas regulations for heavy-duty vehicles are an important step forward in protecting our families from climate pollution. Climate change threatens our health in many ways and is also making it more difficult to clean up air pollution. Parents around the country want to see a rapid transition to zero-emissions vehicles. Moms Clean Air Force is calling on EPA to finalize the strongest possible clean trucks standards this year.
These days I live in Maryland, but I’ve lived most of my life in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. Both cities are major ports with tremendous numbers of trucks traveling through the center of the cities. Our West Seattle home was just over the hill from the Port of Seattle, and I worked at the Office of Indian Child Welfare—less than half mile from one of the main gates for the Port of Seattle. It is not a coincidence that a state child welfare office primarily dedicated to serving Indigenous families is so close to a major source of truck pollution. Many social service offices are located around truck routes in Seattle and in other cities. Allowing economics and race to push people into pollution hotspots shows how little we regard the health and overall value of some of our fellow Americans.
I lived over the hill, where the pollution is much less pervasive. Not everyone gets to leave these sources of pollution at the end of the day, though. Many lower income communities in Seattle and Tacoma are directly on the truck routes and I-5, a major trucking corridor. Schools like Maple Elementary are right next to the Interstate. The Puyallup Tribal lands are deeply impacted by pollution around the Port of Tacoma, and the Port of Seattle is on unrecognized Duwamish land.
According to EPA, more than 45 million people in the U.S. live within 300 feet of a major roadway or transportation facility and 72 million people live within 200 meters of a truck freight route. People of color are more likely to be exposed to traffic pollution.
Truck pollution can be very visible—but the invisible climate pollution that trucks generate is even more deeply concerning to me. I became a parent 10 years ago, and within days of the birth of my child, I came to a very distressing realization that climate change threatened her future. Today’s children will live through at least 3 times as many climate disasters as their grandparents. I am calling on the EPA to show courage and love for the generations to come by creating the strongest possible greenhouse gas truck rules. I urge you to finalize strong standards—consistent with the Advanced Clean Trucks rule—this year, and help put us on a path to a cleaner future.