EPA Testimony ofJulie Hantman July 30, 2014 Julie Hantman DC Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force 

### 1325 18th Street NW, 

### #805 Washington, DC 

### 20036 202-744-4387 (mobile) jhantman@momscleanairforce.org
Thank you forthe opportunityto offer myviews on the proposed Clean Power Plan. My name is Julie Hantman. I am the Washington, DC Field Organizerfor Moms Clean Air Force, a community of moms and dads united in fighting air pollution and calling for climate action. When I became a parent, two and a halfyears ago, I learned quicklythat parenting is atough job -- the sleeplessness, the uncertainties, costs, and decisions. Parenting is joyous, but it's really hard!

1Climate change is making thattough job a lottougher. In fact it's interferingwith my three basic roles as a parent. My Role as Protector. A climate-changed world weakens my abilityto protect my daughterfrom serious health and weather-related threats. Myfamily lives in Washington, DC, and our extended family across the wider Northeast-- a region with the greatest increase in extreme precipitation, according to the National Climate Assessment. My mother-in-law lives in southern Nassau County, Long Island-just afew miles from the shoreline where Hurricane Sandy landed with the intensity ofa 

### 'once in three hundredyears' storm- damaging or destroying seventy-fourthousand structures in Nassau County alone. Here in DC, Itryto keep my daughter indoors on days when ground-level ozone is elevated. Ozone can lead to breathing difficulties especially in children. DC already gets

2afailing grade on ozone levels from the American Lung Association. Yet ozone will worsen further as a result of increased temperatures linked to climate change.
I have a Master's degree in public health, so I'm aware of the other health threats posed by climate change- heat stroke, infectious diseases and more. These are real threats that easily could overwhelm the capabilities ofour state and county public health systems, which are fragile to begin with. Secondly, climate change challenges my Role as Teacher. A mother ought tofeel joy and confidence teaching her young child simple aspects ofthe natural world. But that world, our best scientists say, is changing and degrading-- and the normal truths aboutthe weather, plants and animals won't endure through my daughter'slife. When we visit the zoo I'm quietly uneasy, aware that many animals she's gettingto know will dwindle in the wild and

3even go extinct, unable to adapt to a changing climate, during her lifetime. Finally, unchecked climate change will threaten the quintessential (mom' role of Reassurer-in-Chief. My motheralways modeled hope for me. Hervoice still resonates and reassures me in turbulenttimes. Hearing the clear-eyed predictions ofscientists, Iwonder if I'll be able to reassure my daughterthatthefuture is bright, or thatthe world can be improved. In my day-to-day life and in my work with Moms Clean Air Force, I carry the conviction that ifwe run hard with the excellent science we have, and make the strong and fair changes we need to make, then we will be able to safeguard for our children the hopeful horizons we've enjoyed in our own lives. Our kids will need resilience to survive the hard times ahead. But ifwe start acting now, then qualities like lightheartedness and purpose also will

4find true places in our children's and grandchildren's lives. And parents will have an easiertime doingtheirjobs, namely protecting, teaching and reassuring our kids.
Isupportthe proposed standards and I ask that EPA further strengthen the Clean Power Plan by finalizing a rule that reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 50% below 2005 levels by 2020. Thank you again forthe opportunityto speak today.

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