Contact: Sasha Tenenbaum, stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org, (917) 887-0146
Washington, DC—Today, President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restored a key tool to address pollution from the transportation sector, America’s leading source of carbon pollution.
EPA’s decision will once again permit California, and any states that choose to adopt California’s standards, to set stronger-than-federal vehicle pollution protections for cars and light trucks. Seventeen states (CA, CT, CO, DE, MA, MD, ME, MN, NJ, NV, NY, OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WA) and the District of Columbia, representing more than 120 million people and over one-third of the automotive market, can once again exercise their authority to reduce pollution from vehicles at the pace they choose.
In response, Molly Rauch, Public Health Policy Director for Moms Clean Air Force, issued the following statement:
“Today’s news is important because it enables 17 states and the District of Columbia to fight climate change and provide life-saving air quality protections with stricter tailpipe standards. We need every tool available to protect communities from the largest source of harmful climate pollution in the US: the transportation sector.
“Our more than 1.4 million members are relieved that states once again have the green light to cut vehicle emissions as quickly as possible through tougher-than-federal pollution standards for cars and trucks that deliver cleaner air and fight climate change. Today, we can celebrate a public health victory. When states have the tools they need to make our cars cleaner, they can do a better job of protecting us.
“This is especially good news for those living in congested areas with health-harming vehicle pollution. Millions of children have asthma and struggle to breathe when air quality is poor. More than 4 in 10 Americans—over 135 million people—live in places with unhealthy air pollution, according to the American Lung Association. And that pollution is not equitably distributed. People of color are over three times more likely to be breathing the most polluted air than white people. Today’s reinstatement of states’ authority to limit tailpipe pollution protects public health, addresses the climate crisis, and furthers environmental justice.”
Press release on EPA’s proposal to restore long-standing state authority to protect their residents from climate pollution from cars: https://www.momscleanairforce.org/press-releases/40-moms-speak-up-demand-cleaner-cars/
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Molly Rauch’s testimony in favor of EPA’s proposal to restore state authority to protect families from pollution [Environmental Protection Agency Reconsideration of “SAFE 1 Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-025”]: https://www.momscleanairforce.org/resources/testimony-molly-rauch-2021-epa-reconsideration-of-safe-1-hearing/
- Press release on EPA’s proposal to restore long-standing state authority to protect their residents from climate pollution from cars: https://www.momscleanairforce.org/press-releases/40-moms-speak-up-demand-cleaner-cars/