By: Julie Kimmel, Manager for Member Cultivation, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 2, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0985
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Julie Kimmel. I live in Reston, Virginia, with my husband and daughter. And I’m with Moms Clean Air Force. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
I am here today to support the strongest possible standards for greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty trucks, and I’m calling on EPA to finalize these standards this year. Stronger transportation standards are crucial in protecting the health and future of our children, and it is urgent that we act now.
Last week, EPA released a report about how climate change will impact children’s health. I’m going to be honest—I haven’t read the report in full. I made the mistake of first reading my colleague Elizabeth Bechard’s analysis. She wrote (on Twitter):
“The report anticipates potential climate impacts for children in the US at 2 and 4 degrees of warming—we don’t know exactly when these levels of warming will happen, some estimates suggest we’ll reach 2 degrees of warming by 2040. (My own kids will be 24 in 2040.)”
This paralyzed me. My own daughter will be 25 in 2040. Today, she is 8 years old and already planning to have kids. She talks about the children she wants to have all the time, like almost every day. As any mother concerned about climate change would, I try to gently temper her enthusiasm. But how do you tell your baby, “Don’t plan for your future just yet—because even if you have one, it will probably be vastly less comfortable than your life is today”?
Climate change is an issue of generational justice. Today’s children will live through at least 3 times as many climate disasters as their grandparents did. These children are already suffering learning loss—from both the pandemic and the uptick in extreme weather we’re already experiencing. How many more missed school days does “3 times as many climate disasters” equal?
And what does “3 times as many climate disasters” mean for their health? I already worry about heat exhaustion and heat stroke during our hot and humid Virginia summers. Climate change also worsens air quality and makes allergy seasons longer and more intense, meaning we’ll see more respiratory illness, like asthma. Not to mention injuries and premature deaths from extreme weather events, like wildfires and floods.
This is all a lot to carry as a parent. I’m sure you feel it too, whether you are a parent or not. To protect the health and future of our children, we have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we have to do it now. And strong heavy-duty truck pollution standards that put us on a path to zero-emissions vehicles are one important way we can get there.
So, once again, I am urging EPA to adopt the strongest possible greenhouse gas rules—consistent with the Advanced Clean Trucks rule—for heavy-duty trucks. Please protect our children’s health and future by finalizing these standards by the end of the year.