By: Rachel Meyer, Ohio River Valley Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 10, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Rachel Meyer, and I am the Ohio River Valley Field Coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force. I am from Independence Township, Beaver County, in western Pennsylvania. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Strong multipollutant emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles will provide protection for our families from dangerous tailpipe pollution, which is a significant contributor to climate change and other harmful health impacts. I urge you to finalize the strongest possible clean car standards this year.
Within the transportation sector, passenger cars and trucks are the largest contributor to climate change, at 58% of all transportation sources and 17% of total US greenhouse gas emissions. I am the mother of a three-year-old. I worry about how climate change will impact her future and all our children’s future. I have already experienced some possible health impacts of climate change. I see consequences of climate change in the growing tick populations and the rise in pollen. In 2017, I contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite and had ongoing health symptoms for months. I was fortunate to fully recover unlike others who have damage to their joints, hearts, and nervous systems. As allergy seasons become worse, I have experienced increased asthma symptoms triggered by heavy pollen. For the 16,000 people in Beaver who have asthma like me, increased pollen counts can be a trigger for asthma attacks. We must take every action possible now to reduce greenhouse gas pollution before our children’s health and safety are in jeopardy. An important step forward is ensuring that car pollution standards are as strong as possible to speed our transition to zero-emissions vehicles. We owe this to our children.
In addition to important climate benefits, strong clean cars standards will help reduce other health-harming tailpipe air pollutants which will reduce smog and soot. Pollution from light- and medium-duty vehicles contributes to harmful soot and smog pollution that threatens the health of millions of people in the US. Where I live, we rank the 14th worst for annual particle pollution out of 200 metropolitan areas according to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report for the Pittsburgh-Weirton-New Castle region. Robust clean car standards would help improve the health of families in my region and help to decrease the high levels of cardiovascular and respiratory disease, lung cancer, and adverse birth outcomes.
We need the strongest possible clean car standards as soon as possible. Please finalize these important standards this year. Thank you.