By: Laurie Anderson, Colorado State Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 9, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Laurie Anderson, and I am a Colorado Field Organizer with Moms Clean Air Force. I am from Broomfield, Colorado.
On behalf of Moms Clean Air Force, I call on EPA to finalize the strongest possible clean cars standards this year. Stronger transportation standards are crucial in protecting the health of our children and communities, and it is urgent that we act now.
As a mom of five, I am concerned that our future generations, including our own children, will be significantly more impacted by climate change-fueled extreme weather events in their lifetimes than we are today.
I live in the Denver Metro/North Front Range ozone nonattainment zone which has been downgraded to “severe” nonattainment. Here, we contend with NOx emissions from heavy vehicle traffic, along with VOC emissions from oil and gas development, which results in many high ozone days all summer long—days in which our air is unhealthy to breathe. Therefore, we must reduce both of these pollution sources to bring our area into ozone attainment. We know that transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution, and that within this sector, passenger cars and trucks are the largest contributor at 58% of all transportation sources and 17% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Several years ago, recognizing the benefit of leading by example, I purchased my first EV in an effort to reduce my own family’s pollution. I purchased my Nissan Leaf understanding that this would be a lifestyle change, but I have never regretted that decision. Our local governments, along with developers, are also embracing this change by requiring, and also investing in, charging stations which reduces range anxiety and makes EV ownership more realistic now than ever before. Our communities are ready to embrace the change to EVs and cleaner vehicles.
Greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change, and we need to reduce climate pollution from vehicles in order to have a stable climate and protect our family's health. Red Flag Warning alerts are now all too common for my area. These warnings indicate that critical fire weather conditions exist in which a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures exist which can contribute to extreme fire behavior. We take these warnings very seriously based on extreme fire events here.
2020 was the second-hottest year on record and the future will likely be even hotter. Across the nation we are also seeing increasingly powerful hurricanes, more destructive droughts, and severe flooding. We know far too well that addressing the climate crisis can’t wait.
Therefore, I am urging EPA to adopt the strongest possible pollution protections for light- and medium-duty vehicles.
Please protect our health and our future by finalizing these standards as soon as possible. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.