By: Samantha Schmitz, DC Field Events Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 11, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Samantha Schmitz, and I’m the DC Field Events Coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force, currently living in Washington, DC. On behalf of Moms Clean Air Force and families across the country, I encourage the EPA to finalize ambitious and comprehensive standards this year.
Tailpipe pollution from light- and medium-duty vehicles harms everyone, but especially those who live in high traffic areas like me and most other DC residents. Exposure to high levels of tailpipe pollution can cause asthma attacks, respiratory problems, cognitive problems, lung cancer, and even premature death. And the harms of traffic pollution are not felt equally as people of color experience higher levels of pollution exposure than white Americans across the United States.
Tailpipe exhaust from cars is also a significant source of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which react in the atmosphere to form ground-level ozone (also referred to as smog). Similarly, tailpipe pollution is a source of dangerous particle pollution (also known as soot). And unfortunately, the recent 2023 State of the Air Report gave DC an F grade for ozone pollution and a C for 24-hour particle pollution.
I feel the harmful effects of this soot and smog pollution firsthand as I was diagnosed with asthma when I was just two years old. I often have to take my inhaler and struggle to breathe on days with particularly bad air quality and I know I’m not alone. Just in DC, there are over 12,000 kids and over 62,000 other adults that suffer from asthma according to the recent 2023 State of the Air Report. And what’s worse is that, Black children are five times more likely to be hospitalized from asthma than non-Hispanic white children.
It’s clear that pollution from light- and medium- duty trucks creates vast health disparities and environmental injustice, but this pollution also creates generational injustice by contributing to climate change. Today’s children will live through at least 3 times as many climate disasters as their grandparents. As a young person, I’m already feeling these generational impacts and the mental health implications that dirty air and climate change cause, but I can only imagine what my kids and future generations might experience.
With that in mind, please remember that the vehicles included in the rule we’re discussing today will impact our kids, families, and communities for decades to come. The EPA must act now to adopt the strongest possible pollution protections for light- and medium-duty vehicles. Please protect our health and our future by finalizing these standards as soon as possible.