By: Melody Reis, Senior Legislative and Regulatory Policy Manager, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 14, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Melody Reis and I’m with Moms Clean Air Force. I support the Carbon Rule and urge EPA to adopt the strongest possible standards to reduce emissions from fossil fuel power plants.
Fossil fuel power plants are responsible for about one quarter of climate pollution in the United States. Here in the DC area, we’re already seeing the effects of climate change. Four of the five hottest years on record have been in the last 11 years, and 2023 is on track to top them all. In April, the Washington Post reported that 77% of days this year have been warmer than average, often by 5 to 6 degrees.
What’s more, when wildfire smoke drifted into our region last week, the air quality in my neighborhood reached 320 on the Air Quality Index. It was color-coded as maroon, the worst level on the scale—a level I hadn’t even known existed—and described as “hazardous.” The air was such a threat to our health that school recesses were moved indoors, the National Zoo was closed, and the Nationals’ home game against the Diamondbacks was postponed. And we’re at the beginning of wildfire season—a season that climate change is lengthening—so I’m bracing myself for more of the same in the coming months.
And it’s not just DC. Just last month, in my hometown of Seattle, record-breaking temperatures—over 20 degrees higher than normal—resulted in heat advisories throughout the Pacific Northwest and fueled dozens of wildfires in neighboring Canada.
This came on the heels of record-setting fall temperatures in the Northwest, which, again, fueled wildfires across the region and earned Seattle the temporary but unfortunate distinction of having the worst air quality on the planet.
Unlike DC, in Seattle, summer is the best. Or at least it was when I was growing up. There was actually a chance it might not rain, temperatures would be in the 70s or 80s, and I could spend literally all day outside riding my bike, swimming in the lake, or playing sports with the other neighborhood kids. But the climate is changing and kids in Seattle are too often stuck inside because it’s too hot or because the air is full of wildfire smoke. Or both.
DC was probably always too hot in the summer, but it’s getting even hotter, and now there’s wildfire smoke here, too. We shouldn’t have to embrace this as the new normal. We’re already seeing the effects of a warming planet, and we must do everything we can to ensure a more stable climate for future generations. Cutting carbon emissions from power plants is a start.
Moms Clean Air Force supports the acceleration of the cleanest and most reliable pathways to reducing climate pollution. The good news is that we have abundant sources of clean, renewable, and sustainable energy like wind and solar.
Once again, I support the Carbon Rule and I urge EPA to finalize the strongest possible standards to limit pollution from fossil fuel power plants. Thank you.