• 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
      • Legislation We Support
      • Clean Air Action Guide
      • Register to Vote
    • Programs
      • Community Rx
      • EcoMadres
      • Moms and Mayors
      • Baby Power
    • Attend an Event
      • Event Calendar
    • En Español
      • Bienvenidos
    • Support Moms
      • Donate
  • What We Work On
    • Air Pollution
      • Fracking/Methane
      • Mercury
      • Cars and Trucks
      • Particulate Pollution
      • Smog
      • Petrochemicals
      • Asthma
      • Babies
      • Pregnancy
      • Older Adults
    • Climate Change
      • Carbon Dioxide
      • Fracking/Methane
      • Extreme Weather
      • Clean Energy
      • All Of Government
    • Toxic Chemicals
      • Household Products
      • Plastics/Petrochemicals
      • Baby Food Safety
      • Schools
    • Environmental Justice
      • Justice in Every Breath
      • Community Rx
      • EcoMadres
      • Indigenous Communities
    • Urgent National Campaigns
      • The Build Back Better Act
      • Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
      • EPA Methane Regulations
      • Baby Food Safety
      • Electric School Buses
      • Black Maternal Health Act of 2021
      • Legislation We Support
  • Where We Work
    • State Chapters
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Illinois
      • Iowa
      • Maryland
      • Michigan
      • Missouri
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • Ohio
      • Pennsylvania
      • South Carolina
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Washington, DC
      • West Virginia
  • Who We Are
    • Mission

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

      • Learn More
    • Our Team
      • National Team
      • State Coordinators
      • Writers
      • Job Openings
    • Learn More
      • Our Mission
      • Legislation We Support
      • National Wins
      • 2021 Annual Report
    • Press
      • Moms in the News
      • Press Releases
    • Contact
      • Contact Us
      • Media Contact
  • Articles
    • All Articles
      • Topics
        • Air Pollution
        • Climate Change
        • Toxic Chemicals
        • Politics
        • Interviews
        • Hope
    • Collective Climate Action is Good for the Planet—and Our Mental Health
      Plants and Pollinators Go Wild for "NO MOW MAY"
      Dr. Ou, Air Pollution, and Cancer Vulnerability
      New Mexico Mom Concerned About Climate Pollution From Trucks
  • Resources
  • Donate

FacebookTwitterinstagram

  • Take Action
  • Join the Force
  • Donate
Resource Library / Air Pollution / Cars and Trucks

Testimony: Michelle Uberuaga, 2021, EPA’s Revised 2023 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards

Testimony

email Email Linkfacebook Share on Facebooktwitter Share on Twitter

By: Michelle Uberuaga, Montana Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: August 25, 2021
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0208
To: Environmental Protection Agency

Thank you so much for your time and attention today. I am grateful for your work. You have an incredibly important job and laudable mission: “to protect human health and the environment.” Thank you.

My name is Michelle Uberuaga. I am a mother of three and a member of Moms Clean Air Force. I live on Apsaalooke land in southwest Montana. I work full-time running a community-based conservation group here in Yellowstone’s northern gateway.

I am testifying today to support the EPA’s proposal today. This proposal is a step in the right direction to address the urgent climate emergency that we are living in right now. As many speakers have already stated, we are at a tipping point. Every decision you make to reduce pollution today, matters. I really want you to understand the urgency of this work to my family, and so many other Montana families. Our kids are watching, they are worried, we have spent the past two months in Montana under hazy and smoked-filled skies. They can’t play outside. They can’t fish because of heat related river closures. My kids are still pretty young, but they know that something is not right. Montana’s drought is killing farmers. Climate change is impacting every part of our lives—our economy and our way of life in Montana. Our kids are counting on you to take action to protect their future.

For these reasons, I urge the EPA to set the strongest possible federal clean car standards. We need to keep U.S. automakers on track to meet ambitious pollution reduction goals as soon as possible.

I am also testifying because my family, like many Montana families, is impacted from air pollution from cars and trucks.

Livingston is a small town in a rural county on the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park. You might imagine that we have pretty good air quality, but like every other place, we experience local pollution from vehicles. It’s inescapable.

In fact, pollution from vehicles can create serious air quality concerns even in Yellowstone National Park. Cars often get lined up back to back, sometimes causing mile-long traffic jams. The air pollution is visible as it sits in the air in remote river valleys.

In our little town we experience pollution from vehicles regularly. Livingston, like many towns in Montana, sits right off of Interstate 90. The freeway closes when the weather gets bad and heavy truck traffic is rerouted right through our downtown, right down main street, right past our elementary school. Sometimes traffic gets backed up for several miles. Semis, cars, trucks slowly inch through town, past schools, restaurants, and sidewalks. You can see the pollution in the air.

My kids are also personally impacted from pollution from vehicles idling at their schools. Like many places, parents idle their cars during pick up and drop off, which happens on the playground. It’s alarming to see our playground flanked on all sides by idling cars and air pollution.

We can and we must do better for our kids and for our communities.

An estimated 6 million children under 18 suffer from asthma. My son has three kids on his soccer team that have asthma. My husband is the coach, and he has to make judgment calls about whether it’s safe to practice or play games. Parents should not be making these decisions.

This summer, our local hardware store teamed up with our city government to give out free DIY air filters for homes this summer.

Many families, like mine, don’t have air conditioning. With extreme heat and smoke, we have very few options to protect our families.

We need your help. Local families and communities can work together to protect themselves from dangerous pollution, but we shouldn’t have to, and many especially vulnerable communities just don’t have the resources or time. We need your leadership to protect vulnerable children across our country from air pollution and climate change.

Strengthening car standards is a simple step, and we can and must continue to do more to protect vulnerable communities from air pollution and climate change. I want my kids to know that we did everything we could to protect their future.

Thank you again for your time and your consideration.

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 over one 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

  • What Is Air Pollution?
  • What is Climate Change?
  • What are Toxic Chemicals?

FacebookTwitterinstagram

© 2022 Moms Clean Air Force
All rights reserved

Privacy Policy

en English
en Englishes Spanish