3rd-grader schools EPA

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.

"Here's a road next to a pond, and cars leave oil and emit gas which gets into bodies of water and the air, and makes the water cycle go faster, and go into the air and kill people and animals all over the United States," she said. "But you can buy battery cars and electric cars and cars with less emissions that save the environment and save you money! Like Toyota Priuses. Thank you for letting me talk!"

Later, she told a reporter that she learned about air pollution in kindergarten and gained more appreciation for the environment during field trips and park cleanups last year. She found out about the EPA hearing from a friend of her mother's who works for Moms Clean Air Force, which educates policymakers at all levels about pollution and climate change. Testifying was the right thing to do "to help the environment and animals," she said.

Christopher Grundler, director of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, quickly approached Kneller at the end of the session and thanked her for speaking.