By: Jayne Black, Wisconsin 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
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Jayne Black. I live in Brown County, Wisconsin. I am the Wisconsin field coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force — a national community of more than 1.5 million parents united to protect our children from the dangers of air pollution and the growing threat of climate change.
I am here today not just as an advocate, but as a mother of a daughter and son whose health is greatly impacted by air pollution. I am here for all our children whose very lives depend on clean air. I am calling for action and accountability!
Moms Clean Air Force has been advocating for strong mercury protections for over a decade. We strongly oppose EPA’s proposal to repeal recent updates to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards—there is no safe level of mercury.
We cannot afford to weaken or walk away from these protections.
Wisconsin is home to two of the dirtiest coal plants Elm Road Generating Station and the Columbia Energy Center along with other coal-fired plants, also contributes to mercury pollution in the state. Coal-fired power plants are a major source of mercury pollution overall, and the mercury released can be converted into a toxic form in the water. Any amount of mercury is not good.
In 2023, approximately 59,754 babies were born in Wisconsin, and it is unfathomable to think that mercury and other dangerous pollutants emitted from coal plants could contribute to cognitive issues, like impaired memory, attention, language, fine motor skills and visual spatial skills in our children.
On a personal note, MATS protects my daughter with multiple sclerosis and my son with asthma from harmful air pollutants like soot that make their health conditions worse. “In addition to reducing mercury emissions, the MATS rule strengthened last year is expected to reduce several other forms of harmful air pollution, including soot and ozone. As the mother of a daughter with multiple sclerosis and a son with asthma, my family lives with the impacts of this kind of air pollution every day.” Reducing particle pollution and ozone for our family and others would mean significant improvements in my daughter and son’s health, fewer asthma attacks, and less visits to the emergency room. The daily struggle to breathe affects every aspect of my son’s life. It would also mean fewer relapses for my daughter with multiple sclerosis which means that her already very limited life would not continue to become even smaller.
MATS is a lifesaving and lifetime promise to our children and to our earth that is not ours but will be our children's that science guides us and protects us now and in the future!
Thank you.