By: Sasha Tenenbaum, Senior Manager, Media and Public Engagement, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: January 12, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Hello, my name is Sasha Tenenbaum. I live here in the nation’s capital—Washington, DC—with my husband and two school-age daughters. I am the Senior Manager for Media and Public Engagement at Moms Clean Air Force.
As a media specialist, I’ve been encouraged to see so much clear-eyed reporting about methane with an emphasis on what we can and absolutely must do. There is so much that we know about this dangerous problem with an easy solution.
It’s why NOW is our methane moment. This message came across loud and clear at the last two COP summits with urgency because we have an opportunity that we can’t afford to miss. Why? Cutting methane emissions is the fastest way to reduce the rate of global warming.
And regulatory action on wasteful methane pollution is the fastest way that we avert crop loss, wildfires, extreme weather, and rising sea levels—some of the most dire climate risks that we face.
Speaking of climate risks, let me give you some examples from my own family. I grew up in Oregon, a state offering a high quality of life with legendary natural perks: mountains, coastline, old-growth forests, and more. But these perks are no match for the climate crisis.
Just ask my newly retired parents, who have been shut in for weeks at a time to avoid a “heat dome” and seemingly endless wildfire smoke. Last year, the smoke was so bad that Portland’s air ranked among the worst in the world for several days in a row.
Or just ask my younger brother, whose livelihood as a wage-earner depends on stability in the agricultural sector. When the water supply plummets in the summer, he might suffer. We all might suffer—in fact—because climate-impacted water supply is connected to wildlife, recreation, and commerce. Climate touches everything, and everything touches us.
Today is about meeting the methane moment. Today is about doing it with conviction. Today is about the art of the possible. Today is also about my family’s health—and yours too.
In closing, with stakes this high, I fully support EPA’s updated rule to cut oil and gas methane pollution. I urge the agency to finalize the strongest and most comprehensive version of these rules to protect children’s health—including my two girls—from all sources of oil and gas methane pollution.
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