By: Elizabeth Hauptman, Pennsylvania State Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 2, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0985
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I’m Elizabeth Hauptman, I live in Livingston County, Michigan, and I’m the field coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force Michigan. We have over 34,000 members here in Michigan and over a million and a half nationally fighting for clean air and climate action for the sake of our children’s health and future. Thank you for taking my family’s testimonies today.
I support strong standards and cleaner trucks and ask that you finalize these important protections this year.
Stronger greenhouse gas standards are crucial in fighting both climate and air pollution. Because this rule will help slow down the climate crisis, it will also help to combat the ways climate change makes air quality worse, such as wildfires, droughts, and extreme heat—which all contribute to unhealthy levels of air pollution that are especially harmful to children. A strong rule will also help speed the transition to zero emission trucks, which means less tailpipe pollution, which means cleaner air for our kids. As the mother of a son with asthma, this can’t come soon enough.
Tailpipe pollution and related illnesses like asthma are serious concerns where I live. Detroit has asthma hospitalization rates significantly higher than the rest of the state. 69,000 Detroit residents live within 150 meters of a major freeway, and 58 Detroit public schools with an estimated 24,490 students are within 200 meters of a major roadway. Because of housing discrimination and other unjust policies, these are more likely to be people from historically marginalized communities. This is a social and environmental justice issue. Childhood asthma rates are significantly higher for children of color. Latino children are twice as likely to die from asthma, and Black children are 10 times more likely to die from asthma than white, non-Hispanic kids.
I think about my extended family. They live near a busy highway where big rigs drive past nearly nonstop. My niece, like many children in the Detroit area, suffers from asthma, which can be triggered by tailpipe pollution. That means more doctor’s visits, more absences from school, and the risk of lifelong respiratory problems.
Pollution harms all of us, but disproportionately impacts children. Kids are smaller, they breathe more rapidly, and their bodies and brains are still growing. Zero-emission trucks are among the best available technologies to reduce greenhouse gases and dangerous air pollution.
Once again, I support the strongest standards for cleaner trucks, consistent with the Advanced Clean Trucks rules, and ask that you finalize these important protections this year. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.