By: Stephanie Klein, Washington DC field organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: November 30, 2021
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to offer my comments today. My name is Stephanie Klein, and I live in Washington DC. I am a field organizer with Moms Clean Air Force. I am the mother of two little girls, ages five and seven. I am an environmental scientist by training and a former career employee of this agency. As such, I understand firsthand the immense importance of the opportunity that lies before EPA today. Through its rulemaking process, this agency has the chance to significantly slow the impacts of climate change and ensure that our children and grandchildren inherit a stable planet.
I support the proposed EPA methane rules and urge you to finalize the strongest and most comprehensive methane rules to protect children’s health from all sources of oil and gas methane pollution including small wells and routine flaring.
You have already heard from many of my colleagues today and will hear from more over the next two days. The reason so many moms have turned out to speak at this listening session is because more than anything, we care about our children’s well-being, and we will fight for what’s best for them. And what is best for our kids is most certainly a planet where they can live out their lives absent the disastrous impacts of climate change. That means a planet with clean air and a stable climate.
Everyone has a right to breathe clean air. But in many parts of the country, that is just not a reality. Here in Washington DC, for example, 1 in 10 kids suffers from asthma, which is exacerbated by ground-level ozone pollution. And in some parts of the city, particularly our low-wealth communities and communities of color, the childhood asthma rate is as high as 1 in 3.
Ground-level ozone is worst on the hottest days. And as the climate is changing and the earth is warming, we are starting to see more and more record-breaking heat waves. Protecting public health means keeping everyone's air clean and safe to breathe, and cutting methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is essential to this effort.
Washington DC is also experiencing record-breaking floods caused by rising sea levels and heavy rain events as a result of climate change. In fact, communities along the Potomac River have been building flood walls to address the more frequent and severe flooding that is occurring on a now regular basis. Our famous cherry blossoms are even blooming earlier as the planet warms.
Methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is fueling the climate crisis, and endangering the health and safety of communities across the country. Methane is responsible for 25% of the man-made global warming we are experiencing today. This agency has the opportunity to do something about the methane pollution that comes from the oil and gas industry, and I urge you to take it.
Once again, I support the proposed EPA methane rules and ask that you finalize the strongest and most comprehensive methane rules to protect children’s health from all sources of oil and gas methane pollution including routine flaring and small wells.