By: Tracy Sabetta, Ohio State Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: May 9, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Tracy Sabetta, and I am a mother and state coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio. I reside in Pickerington, just outside Columbus. On behalf of the 89,000 Moms Clean Air Force members in Ohio, I call on EPA to finalize the strongest possible clean cars standards this year. Stronger transportation standards are crucial in protecting the health of our children and communities, and it is urgent that we act now.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, Ohio ranks fifth in the nation for total carbon emissions. Ohio also ranks fifth in the number of automobile registrations per state, with nearly 4.1 million cars currently registered. The link between the two is clear. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and within that sector, passenger cars and trucks are the largest contributor at 58% of all transportation sources and 17% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the US.
And those vehicles are contributing more than climate pollution. Tailpipe emissions directly affect our daily air quality too. The American Lung Association’s 2023 State of the Air Report also indicates that more than 152,000 Ohio children are currently battling asthma, and 8 of Ohio’s 10 most populated counties received grades of either D or F for ozone pollution. Our state is woefully behind others in public transit infrastructure and is simply not seeing air quality improvements at the same rate as others in the region.
We need all the tools available in our toolbox to reduce harmful pollution and protect the health of our children and families. These light and medium vehicle emissions protections will go a long way.
Climate change is an issue of generational justice. Findings published in 2021 in the journal Science indicate that today’s children will live through at least three times as many climate disasters as their grandparents. This isn’t the legacy that I want to leave my grandchildren. To protect the health of our communities and reduce the greenhouse gas pollution causing dangerous and costly climate change, the EPA must ensure that car pollution standards are as strong as possible to speed our transition to zero-emissions vehicles. That sounds pretty good to those of us in Ohio who are already beginning to make the transition away from our combustion-engine automotive economy and into the future of EVs.
On behalf of Moms Clean Air Force members in Ohio, we are asking you to now take the wheel. We urge you 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.