• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Moms Clean Air Force

Fighting for Our Kids' Health

  • Take Action
    • Right Now
      • Sign a Petition
      • Register to Vote
      • Volunteer for Clean Air
      • Clean Air Action Guide
    • Attend an Event
      • Event Calendar
      • Forum on Maternal & Child Health in a Dangerous Climate
    • En Español
      • EcoMadres
    • Support Moms
      • Donate
  • What We Work On
    • Moms Priorities
      • EPA Work
      • Legislation We Support
      • Justice in Every Breath
      • Moms & Mayors
      • EcoMadres
    • Air Pollution
      • Cars and Trucks
      • Electric School Buses
      • Maternal Health
      • Mercury
      • Ozone Pollution
      • Soot Pollution
    • Climate Change
      • Carbon Pollution
      • Clean Energy
      • Extreme Weather
      • Mental Health
      • Methane
    • Plastics and Petrochemicals
      • “Advanced Recycling”
      • Petrochemical Pollution
      • Waste Incineration
    • Toxic Chemicals
      • Chemical Safety
      • Schools and Playgrounds
      • Vinyl Chloride
  • Where We Work
    • State Chapters
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Illinois
      • Iowa
      • Louisiana
      • Maryland
      • Michigan
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • Ohio
      • Pennsylvania
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Washington, DC
      • West Virginia
      • Wisconsin
  • Who We Are
    • Mission

      We are a community of over 1.5 million parents united against air and climate pollution to protect our children’s health.

      • Learn More
    • Our Team
      • National Team
      • Field Organizers
      • Job Openings
    • Learn More
      • Our Mission
      • Legislation We Support
      • Notable Achievements
      • 2024 Annual Report
      • Newsletter Archive
    • Programs
      • EcoMadres
      • Community Health Justice
      • Indigenous Communities
    • Get in Touch
      • Contact Us
      • Media Inquiries
  • Articles
    • All Articles
      • Topics
        • Plastics and Petrochemicals
        • Mom Detective
        • Air Pollution
        • Climate Change
        • Toxic Chemicals
    • Cutting Air Pollution Standards Is a Surefire Way to Increase Cancer
      Boletín de EcoMadres: Enero - Mayo 2025
      EcoMadres Newsletter: January-May 2025
      Wisconsin Mom Leads the Charge for Healthier, Greener Schools
  • Resources
  • Press
    • Media Contact

      For all urgent press inquiries, please contact DKC News

      • MomsCleanAirForce@dkcnews.com
    • Moms in the Media
      • Press Releases
      • News Stories
      • Moms Make News Archives
  • Donate

FacebookTwitterinstagram

  • Take Action
  • Join the Force
  • Donate
Resource Library / Air Pollution / Mercury

Testimony: Lucia Valentine, EPA’s Proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants, February 24, 2022

Testimony

email Email Linkfacebook Share on Facebooktwitter Share on X

By: Lucia Valentine, West Virginia field coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: February 24, 2022
About: Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for Power Plants: Proposed Reaffirmation of the Appropriate and Necessary Finding, Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2018–0794
To: Environmental Protection Agency

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Lucia Valentine, and I am the West Virginia organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. I am from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and have lived in the Mountain State my whole life. My passion and work is dedicated to the intersection of advocacy, environmental justice, and children's health. I am here today because I support this administration’s proposal to reinstate the appropriate and necessary finding of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

Growing up along the banks of the Potomac River, I have been no stranger to the negative public health impacts heavy industry, particularly coal-fired power plants, has on the state of West Virginia. Pollution from coal-fired power plants, specifically mercury, degrades water quality, air quality, and threatens our health. However, coal plants continue to emit dangerous quantities of hazardous air pollution. Coal-fired power plants are currently the largest source of mercury pollution in the United States, accounting for approximately 8,800 pounds of mercury emissions in 2017 alone. EPA’s proposal to reinstate the legal foundation of the standards that limit mercury and other toxic, carcinogenic pollution from coal-fired power plants is a public health necessity. It will shore up standards that have helped slash mercury pollution by more than 80%.

I want to share that there is no safe level of mercury consumption. Mercury is especially dangerous for developing babies and children as it can cross the blood-brain and placental barriers after ingestion, leading to toxic effects on fetal and infant brains. Additional health harms linked to mercury exposure include cardiovascular problems and increased risk of heart attacks. Limiting mercury pollution also reduces other other toxic air pollutants from power plants, helping to prevent exposure to air pollution linked to cancer, asthma, premature death, and other serious health harms. Recent studies prove that reducing toxic pollution has provided greater health benefits than anticipated, for less money.

Since air pollution is disproportionately distributed, with low-income communities and communities of color bearing the heaviest burden, it is essential for environmental justice that the legal foundation of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards be restored, and that the standards themselves be strengthened in order to protect the health of families and children across the country. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Take Action on this Issue

Join the force and stay updated on opportunities to take action:

Donate

Footer

Moms Clean Air Force

We are a community of 1.5 million moms and dads united against air pollution – including the urgent crisis of our changing climate – to protect our children’s health.

Areas of Focus

  • Air Pollution
  • Climate Change
  • Toxic Chemicals

FacebookTwitterinstagram

© 2025 Moms Clean Air Force
All rights reserved

Privacy Policy