By: Stephanie Klein, Washington DC 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 for the opportunity to testify today. I am the Washington DC Field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. I am a mom and a resident of the District of Columbia. I am an environmental scientist by training and was a career employee of this agency for 14 years.
As such, I have firsthand knowledge of the importance of EPA’s role in protecting the public from harmful levels of air pollution, and I understand that agency staff do not take this responsibility lightly. I want to thank you for holding this hearing today and giving members of the public like me a chance to give input.
I strongly support EPA’s proposal to strengthen federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for Model Years 2023-2026.
Cleaning up vehicle pollution is one of the most important things we can do clean up our air and to fight climate change.
Washington DC has one of the highest ground-level ozone pollution rates in the country. The American Lung Association grades our city at an F in its State of the Air ozone pollution ratings.
One in 10 kids in DC suffers from asthma, which is exacerbated by ground-level ozone pollution. And in some parts of the city, particularly our low-wealth and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) communities, the childhood asthma rate is as high as 1 in 3.
Cars are one of the major sources of ground-level ozone pollution, and our kids are living with the impacts.
We also know that cars are one of our major sources of greenhouse gases—ground transportation accounts for 22% of our climate pollution here.
Like communities across the country, Washington DC is experiencing the effects of climate change today. We are living through record-breaking heat waves, snow storms, and floods caused by rising sea levels and heavy rain events. Our famous cherry blossoms are even blooming earlier as the planet warms.
Part of my job as an organizer is to speak with members of my community about the causes and health impacts of air pollution locally. When I talk to kids, while they typically do not understand the process by which cars burn gasoline to make energy, they do grasp the basic concept of tailpipe pollution, and their reaction is always, “Well, we need to make cars run as cleanly as possible.” And they’re right. EPA has an important job in setting pollution limits for cars.
But we must also go further to address the climate crisis by moving decisively to zero-pollution vehicles. In order to set us on the path to 100% zero-emissions new vehicles sales by 2035, the near-term standards for climate pollution must be as strong as possible.
EPA’s proposal includes several options for how much and how quickly to limit climate pollution from cars and light trucks. On behalf of Moms Clean Air Force’s more than 3,000 members in Washington DC, I urge EPA to finalize the strongest possible option.
Thank you for your time today.