July 29, 2014 

Jennifer Rennicks, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy 

Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 

Comments on the Proposed Clean Power Plan 

energy. ~ 

Good morning. My name is Jennifer Rennicks and I offer my support today for the 

Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to reduce carbon dioxide and other 

invisible pollutants because I am the mother of an asthmatic child. 

As the single largest source of carbon emissions in the United States, coal plants 

dump more than two billion tons of carbon pollution into our air every year. 

Limiting these emissions- as well as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate 

matter- from these behemoths will drastically reduce the levels of air pollutants 

that aggravate respiratory diseases. This is critically important to me because my 

daughter, Emma, is one of 7 million children in our country who lives with asthma, 

a chronic respiratory disease that can leave her wheezing, breathless and coughing 

with little notice. 

For 13 years, my efforts to limit her exposure to asthma attacks triggers have been 

restricted to things under my direct control: pets, dust mites, allergens, mold, 

tobacco smoke, and indoor air pollution from paint or cleaning products. 

By speaking in support of these proposed carbon rules today, I can finally take an 

action against one of the most significant triggers for asthma attacks- outdoor air 

pollution generated by fossil fuel power plants. 

When these rules are finally implemented, I will applaud the economic benefits 

that result when harmful levels of carbon pollution are reduced by deploying clean 

energy technologies; but I will celebrate the possibility that my child might be one 

of 150,000 Americans avoiding an asthma attack each year as a result of these 

same reductions. 

I hope you and others listening today understand that visits to urgent care to treat 

a moderate to severe asthma attack, coupled with the necessary medications and 

supplies, have real and significant financial costs for families. Yet the financial 

impacts have sometimes been easier to handle than the emotional ones. 

Imagine holding a young child- barely 3 years old- who is struggling to take a 

breath. Now picture her surprise and fear as strangers try to cover her face with a 

mask. A young child doesn't understand that mask is to help her breathe, she 

thinks it's yet another obstacle. 
In an attempt to soften the harsh, clinical nature of asthma treatments, nurses 

would connect my young daughter to nebulizers using a fish-faced mask and her 

'rescue inhaler' still sports a duck-face mask. These silicone parts are designed to 

make the whole process less daunting for a child, but a silly face does not change 

the fact that coping with asthma is scary for children, worrisome for parents, and 

expensive for our communities. 

Asthma's costs impacts families far beyond medical bills as parents sometimes 

miss work to care for sick children. All employers don't provide paid sick leave, as 

mine fortunately does, which means some parents bring home smaller paychecks 

in order to provide that necessary care. Those sick children risk falling behind in 

school- and in under-resourced schools our children need all the class time they 

can get. 

To those who loudly proclaim that reducing carbon pollution may be 'too costly' I 

would point out that direct and indirect costs from coping with asthma alone total 

more than $18 billion annually- and other diseases, such as heart and lung 

disease, are also made worse due to pollution from our power sector. A recent 

Harvard Medical School study found that coal pollution costs the United States 

taxpayers between $175 and $523 billion every year in health and environmental 

impacts, which means coal power is three times more expensive than it appears 

on our power bills. 

Thankfully my daughter's asthma symptoms have lessened over time; however, 

this may not always be the case. Scientists and public health experts warn that 

carbon-fueled climate pollution may aggravate conditions like asthma because 

rising temperatures will increase smog pollution and multiply the number of "bad 

air days" when it's hard for asthmatics and other vulnerable populations to 

breathe. 

This future scenario is not one I am willing to accept, not when you and I both 

know that clean energy alternatives generate power in our country and around the 

world. 

I applaud EPA for proposing a flexible rule that can reduce invisible yet harmful 

pollutants to ensure enormous health, environmental and economic benefits. I 

urge you to finalize the Clean Power Plan in a timely manner- these benefits 

cannot come soon enough for our children and our communities. 

Thank you for your consideration.