By: Pita Juarez, Arizona Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: August 21, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Pita Juarez. I live in Phoenix, AZ. I’m an aunt to 10 nieces and nephews and I serve as the field consultant for Moms Clean Air Force — a national community of more than 1.5 million parents united to protect our children from the dangers of air pollution and the growing threat of climate change. I am here today not just as an advocate, but as a person making a plea — for action, for leadership, and for accountability.
I urge you to uphold the EPA’s Endangerment Finding — the critical, science-based determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. In addition, I urge you to maintain strong, health-protective limits on tailpipe pollution from motor vehicles. These safeguards are vital to reducing the climate pollution that’s fueling extreme weather, worsening air quality, and threatening the health of our families. We cannot afford to weaken or walk away from these protections.
In Arizona, we're seeing children's health and joy deteriorate because of the extreme heat that only worsens every summer. Last year, the max temperature in Phoenix was at or above 100 degrees for approximately 30% of the year, breaking records that I fear will break again this summer. Over 600 people died from the heat in Maricopa County alone. I know firsthand how depressing summers are because there's too many heat warnings where everyone is advised not to go outside. Children like my nieces and nephews don't get recess anymore, something that should be such a dear memory from your childhood. Studies show that recess has positive effects on children's physical and mental health, including reduced stress, improved mood, and better academic performance. Recess provides a break from the structured classroom environment, allowing children to engage in unstructured play, which promotes physical activity, social interactions, and cognitive development. My nieces and nephews deserve better.
The Endangerment Finding is not merely a policy document. It is a lifeline — a solemn promise that we will let science and common-sense guide us in protecting what we hold most dear: our children, our health, and our future. So I ask you — please don’t look away. Please don’t delay. Protect the Endangerment Finding and strong, lifesaving limits on tailpipe pollution from motor vehicles, and stand with the families who are counting on you. Thank you.