By: Giovanna Rossi, New Mexico Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: July 8, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0124-0001
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to give testimony today. My name is Giovanna Rossi and I live in Albuquerque, NM with my family. I am an Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, an organization with over 1.5 million parents, caregivers, and family members working to protect our children’s health from the impacts of climate change and air pollution.
Fossil fueled power plants are responsible for almost one-quarter of the climate pollution generated by the US. Moms Clean Air Force strongly opposes efforts to roll back the Carbon Rule. Strong climate pollution standards for power plants are vital for protecting families from harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming and endanger human health.
I am raising my children in New Mexico. Living near the mountains and our expansive blue skies were something I wanted my children to experience. But I am already seeing that the place I call home will not be the same for my child, given the impacts of climate change. Extreme heat, worsening drought, and more intense wildfires are some of the most concerning impacts that we are seeing in the Southwest, and we know that global warming is exacerbating all of these conditions.
Recent wildfires have ravaged our state. Even for those not living in evacuation areas, smoke from the fires have impacted our air quality and there were days where we could not see the Sandia Mountains that take up our eastern views and were advised to not go outside. During summer, extreme heat has caused my children to have to stay inside, due to high temperatures. And my son, who is a soccer player, has had games cancelled due to weather events. This problem is only going to get worse.
The standards finalized last year to limit greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution from new and existing coal and gas-fired power plants are important because they will hold power plants accountable for their pollution. The new rules will also protect public health by cutting harmful air pollutants that are known to endanger people’s health, especially in communities that for too long have disproportionately shouldered the burden of high pollution and environmental injustice.
It is estimated that my children will live through at least 3 times as many climate disasters as my parents. In addition, studies have shown that the impacts of climate change will impact their ability to learn, as well as their mental health. We must do something now to protect the generations to come and that is why I oppose EPA’s proposal to repeal the Carbon Rule and ask that you continue to protect the health of our families and climate. Our children deserve a future with clean air and a stable climate.