By: Elizabeth Hauptman, Michigan Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: August 21, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Elizabeth Hauptman. I live in Livingston County, Michigan. I’m a mom, and I serve as the Michigan Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force—a national community of more than 1.6 million parents united to protect our children from air pollution and our changing climate.
I am here today not just as an advocate, but as a mother making a plea—for action, for leadership, and for accountability. I am strongly opposed to EPA’s proposal to rescind the Endangerment Finding and greenhouse gas limits on tailpipe pollution from motor vehicles.
The Endangerment Finding is the critical, science-based determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. This rule is the foundation the EPA needs to take meaningful action to reduce the climate pollution that’s fueling extreme weather, worsening air quality, and threatening the health of our families.
We cannot afford to weaken or walk away from these protections.
Two summers ago, and again this year, Michigan made global headlines for having the worst air quality in the world due to the long and horrifying season of Canadian wildfires. In Livingston County, our skies were choked with smoke. We were told to shelter indoors. But for families like mine, that wasn’t enough.
Over 153,000 children in Michigan have asthma, including my son. That day, he couldn’t catch his breath. We had to rush him to Urgent Care. I’ll never forget the fear in his eyes as he gasped for air—or the helplessness I felt, knowing that I couldn’t shield him from something as essential as the air we breathe. No parent should ever have to feel that.
Greenhouse gas emissions are causing global warming that is increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires like the ones that impacted my son and that impact millions of children in the U.S. every year. And it’s not just wildfires.
In Michigan, and all across the country, we have had record-breaking and costly storms, floods, and tornadoes—just this spring. Families are losing homes, roads are washing out, and children are being traumatized by the instability of a changing climate. These are not isolated incidents. This is the new reality. And we know what’s driving it.
The science is clear. The consequences are here. And the time to act is now.
So I ask you—protect the Endangerment Finding and stand with the families who are counting on you. Thank you.