Sterile policy debates can often be swayed by emotional appeals. How the Trump administration rules next year on whether to loosen Obama-era vehicle standards on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy remains to be seen, but 9-year-old Washingtonian Brennan Kneller impressed the audience at a recent U.S. EPA hearing with a heart-warming plea to keep the rules intact.
After more than nine hours of testimony from dozens of interested parties, the third-grader at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School presented a diorama to EPA bureaucrats showing puffs of smoke from cars to represent air pollution.
The cars were glued to straws filled with baby powder and black dye to mimic their emissions.