140 Organizations Join Letter Led by the Center for Biological Diversity and GreenLatinos Calling on EPA to Curb Emissions from Gas Cars
WASHINGTON— This week, GreenLatinos and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) partnered to lead and submit an organizational sign-on letter demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) update its latest round of emissions reduction standards to further curb emissions from gas-powered vehicles entering the market in Model Years 2027 - 2032. In total, 140 organizations joined the letter.
GreenLatinos and CBD believe that EPA’s rule must curb emissions from vehicles that fuel climate change and disproportionately pollute low-income and communities of color.
Following the public release of this letter, the two organizations released the following statements:
“About 30 percent of the nation’s carbon pollution comes from transportation, and Latino/a/e, Black, Indigenous, Asian, and other communities of color are overburdened by this pollution they do not create,” said Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, GreenLatinos Sustainable Communities Program Director. “These disparities have only increased over time relative to the air quality standards set by the EPA. People of color are 3.7 times more likely than white people to live in a county with failing air quality. That means these communities have higher rates of severe health impacts, like higher cases of childhood asthma, COPD, cancer, and more.
Pollution from vehicles makes us sick and kills us. At a minimum, the EPA should strengthen its final rule to account for annual improvements to gas-powered light-duty fleets of at least 3.5%, as the International Council on Clean Transportation recommends. In doing so, the EPA will not only hold automakers accountable to President Biden’s recent recommitment to environmental justice, it will ensure a clean and just transportation for all.”
"Automakers already have the tools to reduce pollution from gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, but far too many lag behind in deploying them," said Scott Hochberg, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. "EPA must strengthen its rule to curb climate pollution from the millions of SUVs and trucks that will be sold in coming years.This would be life-changing for the vulnerable people and communities suffering every day from tailpipe pollution."
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GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
