EPA Testimonial 

Clean Power Plan- In Favor 

Matthew). Nez beth 

mattnezbeth@gmail.com 

8-1-14 

Good afternoon, my name is Matthew Nezbeth, and I am a soon to be 

graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. I'm here today to voice my opinion, very 

strongly I might add, in favor of the EPA's Clean Power Plan. I could sit here and 

read you a list of scientific evidence that points, undeniably, to the fact that climate 

change is real, anthropogenic, and that we are already feeling the effects of it today. 

But, that's not what I'm here to do. I would like to take, what I believe to be a much 

more productive and effective course in making a difference, by debunking the myth 

that climate change action is a battle of cost and jobs versus the environment, 

because this simply could not be further from the truth. 

In regards to costs, just in the last decade, advances in solar panel technology 

have brought the price of solar panels down from around $2jwatt to as low as 

$0.52/watt. A SkW residential installation can be as low as $10,000, and when 

considering the 30% federal tax credit and other state-dependent incentives, you 

could have a solar system for as little as $4,000. Depending on how you conserve 

energy, and the possibility of a net-metering agreement with the local utility (being 

able to sell excess generation to the utility at retail price), the return on investment 

can be faster than you would expect. The Department of Energy's Sun Shot Initiative 

is a decade long project focused on making solar energy completely cost competitive 

at about $0.06/kWh. just 3 years into the project, we are already over 60% of the 

way there. With further advances from funding and projects like this one, solar can 

become an economical and effective solution in the next few years. 

When it comes to jobs, the idea of investing in renewable energy becomes 

even more appealing. Exactly how many people work in the coal industry? 

According to the Mine Health and Safety Administration, there were 137,361 coal-
mining employees in 2012. With the rules proposed by the Clean Power Plan, many 

people, especially in the coal industry, fear for the loss of their jobs and falling on 

hard economic times. But, I'm here today to tell you this does not have to be the 

case. In 2013, a new solar project was installed every four minutes, and U.S. solar 

jobs grew by 20%. According to the Solar Foundation's National Solar jobs Census 

2013, solar now employs 142, 698 American workers, at 18,000 locations in all SO 

states. The industry also continues to create jobs more than 10 times faster than all 

other sectors of the U.S. economy. Solar industry employers expect to increase their 

workforce by 24% in the next year. With that said, I believe the EPA, working 

together with the renewable energy industry, and the Department of Energy's Sun 

Shot Initiative, should work hard to ensure that people who's jobs might be 

adversely affected by the Clean Power Plan are well thought of in the planning 

process. 

I would like to close with a quote, that happens to be a favorite of mine, from 

john F. Kennedy's address at Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962, in which he was trying 

to persuade the American people to support a manned space flight to the moon. In 

this address he says: 

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because 

they are easy, but because they are hard. 

[John F. Kennedy, Address at Rice University, September 12 1962]" 

I know this was a different time and different circumstances, but where has that 

drive for progress gone? We are a country built on initiative and innovation, and we 

need to get back to that. NASA was able to put a man on the moon in a decade. I 

firmly believe that if we put our differences aside and come together, we can put 

together an effective plan to mitigate the effects of climate change, and help 

maintain a beautiful, livable planet for many generations to come. It is time to stop 

making excuses and start making solutions for this global problem of climate 

change. The Clean Power Plan isn't the solution, but it's a large step in the right 

direction. Thank you for your time.