By: Mercedes McKinley, National Field Manager, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 13, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Mercedes McKinley. I am a state coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force and a member of EcoMadres, our Latino engagement program. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, I am the mother of a two-year-old baby girl and am also a caregiver for my 78-year-old mother. I support the Carbon Rule and am calling on EPA to finalize the strongest possible standards to help protect our families from harmful air pollution that contributes to climate change and impacts health.
My family and I immigrated from El Salvador, Central America, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1987. We now have three generations that have lived and grown in this city, and during these years, we’ve felt our summers getting longer and seasons like spring and fall getting shorter. Extreme heat has become a new normal in Las Vegas as it has in many parts of the Western United States, and I find it deeply troubling and concerning. I also worry often about how much hotter it will be in 2033 when my daughter is 12 years old. Will she have fewer days to be outside because of dangerous air quality or an extreme heat alert? Yes, I understand that the climate of this region is naturally hot and dry, but when I arrived back home in 2017, the city had experienced approximately two consecutive weeks of days where the high temperature reached 110F or higher, and there was no relief even at night. These temperatures are unbearable and are predicted to get worse. Strengthening the carbon rule can help because fossil fuel power plants are responsible for about 25% of the climate pollution generated by the US. They also emit air pollutants that harm the lungs of our children, our elderly, and everyone else, including animals and plants. It’s time to do better; our health and our ability to breathe fresh air is simply non-negotiable.
We have a moral responsibility to do all we can to ensure that families across the country—regardless of their backgrounds, their politics, or their socioeconomic status—have clean air and a stable climate. Once again, I support the carbon rule and am calling on the EPA to finalize the strongest possible standards to help protect our families today and for future generations. Thank you.