Hi. My name is Charlotte Bromley. Thank you for being here and holding this public 

hearing. 

I want to tell you a story about why I'm here today standing up for the Clean Power Plan. 

But the truth is, I don't have one single story that demonstrates why this is so important 

to me. My belief that the Clean Power Plan must be implemented stems from a lifetime 

of small moments that have made it increasingly clear to me that our planet is in danger, 

and it is up to our generation to act. 

I grew up in Haddam, Connecticut, a small suburb along the CT River. I fell in love with 

being outside, whether playing soccer or outdoor basketball, running around in woods 

behind my house, catching frogs in our pond, riding my bike down to the CT River, or 

swimming in the lake at my best friend's house. Being outside was so much a part of my 

life that only once it got dark out or started raining would my friends and I begrudgingly 

go inside to play. It was a lifestyle that made me feel deeply connected to the outdoors, 

and a lifestyle I took for granted. 

When I was younger I didn't like going to NY because, according to my mom, I said it 

felt too "dirty and crowded." So naturally, I moved to Los Angeles for college. My first 

week in LA was for preseason for my college's soccer team. At the time, wildfires were 

so intense that after practices we would come back to our bags and they would be dusted 

with ash. We had to have half of our preseason indoors, which wasn't fun when the gym 

was 100 degrees, just as hot as it is outside, but with no fresh air. I thought this was just a 

fluke, a one-time thing, but it turns out, wildfires are actually a very regular part of life in 

LA. When we would hear that you could see the fires from the freeway or from the top of 

what we called "Mt. Figi," we weren't startled, but instead we'd just go watch the hills on 

fire. 

My junior year in college, it had been so hot and so dry for so long that a fire started on 

our campus in a small field that led to a mass evacuation and cancellation of classes. My 

senior year, wildfires were so bad that our professors had to evacuate their homes 

because they were told there was a good chance they would burn down, also cancelling 

classes. 

I have never had problems with asthma, but during lacrosse season in Los Angeles L 

would often have to stop playing because I couldn't breathe. It felt like I was suffocating 

due to the mixture of heat and extremely thick, dirty air. It made me only want to be 

outside when I had to be. 

I thought that once I left Los Angeles the extreme and unpredictable weather events such 

as wildfire, drought and flash flooding would be behind me, and that Denver, despite it's 

reputation for weird weather, would be relatively calm and normal. I found this to be 

totally inaccurate. Again, I am living in a place where not only droughts, wildfires, and 

flash floods are normal, but so is hail the size of golf balls and terrible air quality. Again, 

I don't enjoy being outside. 
Our climate is clearly changing. 97% of scientists now argue that climate change is real, 

it's caused by human activity, and that we must act now. For people to come up here and 

argue otherwise is denial and in most cases motivated by money. The Clean Power Plan 

is the most important step we have taken to stop global warming.