By: Elizabeth Hauptman, Michigan Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: July 10, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2018–0794
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to share my story.
My name is Elizabeth Hauptman, and I live in Livingston County, Michigan with my husband and our teenage son. I’ve been advocating with Moms Clean Air Force for over a decade to protect children from the dangers of air pollution—and mercury pollution is one of the most dangerous threats we face.
As a mom, I know there is no safe level of mercury exposure. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that permanently damages babies' brains. I worry every day about what toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants means for families like mine, for our children’s health, and for future generations.
My son has asthma, and we’ve already experienced the health harms of air pollution firsthand—from wildfire smoke that sent us to urgent care, to dangerous ozone action days that forced him indoors when he should have been outside playing. In 2024, Michigan recorded over 20 days when ozone or fine particle pollution (PM2.5) exceeded federal health standards—especially in Southeast Michigan, where vehicle emissions and industrial activity make air quality worse. On those days, just taking a walk or waiting at the bus stop can be risky for kids with asthma like mine. But mercury is an invisible threat—one that quietly builds up in our bodies, especially when we eat contaminated fish. I grew up fishing with my uncle and cousins in Michigan, and I want my son to enjoy that same tradition. But I also want to make sure that tradition doesn't come with a toxic dose of mercury.
That’s why I strongly support the Biden administration’s recent updates to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. These strengthened safeguards hold polluters accountable, especially the coal plants burning lignite in states like Texas and North Dakota—plants that have long evaded stricter rules. The updated standards also require continuous emissions monitoring, so we can finally know what’s actually coming out of these smokestacks—not just what’s measured during short, outdated tests.
These protections don’t just reduce mercury—they also limit arsenic, lead, chromium, and other deadly air toxics that cause cancer, heart attacks, and developmental delays. And by cutting soot and ozone-forming nitrogen oxides, these rules protect every breath we take.
I speak today not just as a concerned mom, but as someone deeply committed to justice. The burden of pollution doesn’t fall equally. Communities of color, low-income families, and Indigenous communities—like the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Bay Mills Indian Community, and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians—who rely on fish as a food source bear the brunt of mercury exposure. Weakening mercury protections would be a betrayal of these communities—and of every parent who wants a healthier future for their child.
Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for strong mercury standards for over a decade, and we are not backing down now. There is no safe level of mercury. We must uphold and enforce the strongest possible Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to protect our kids, our communities, and our climate.
Thank you.