Comments to EPA, Public hearing, July 31, 2014, Pittsburgh PA Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility GeneratingUnits, Also known as the Clean Power Plan DocketEPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 ; Good afternoon. My name is Alan Lockwood. I am a board-certifiedNeurologist and an Emeritus Professor ofNeurology at the University at Buffalo. I am a member ofthe Board and a Senior Scientist at Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). PSRconsists ofabout 25,000 members and activists in chapters and medical schools throughout the US. Ourmission is "toprotect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival." There is no doubt in ourmind that climate change is the greatest public healththreat we face as a civilization. This conclusion is based on the 5th Assessment by the IPCC that summarizes work ofsome 600 scientists from 39 countries, The ThirdNational Climate Assessment, and numerous papers published in leading peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals. It is also clearthat uncontrolled emissions ofcarbon largely from burning fossil fuels, are the major driver ofclimate change. Therefore, PSR supports EPA's Clean Power Planthat seeks to reduce these emissions from existing electricity generating units. However, based on these same reports, we conclude that although this is an important step in the right direction, it will not be sufficient to prevent many ofthe most severe impacts ofclimate change. More is needed and needed soon. Here is a partial glimpse ofwhat must be avoided.

• Heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion, already the leading cause ofweather-related deaths in the US, will become even more common. This is particularly true in our large heat island cities where children, the poor, elderly, and those with chronic diseases are increasingly vulnerable to the heat. • Changes in rainfall will increase the risk for serious floods in North America. • Droughts, and megadroughts such as the one that grippedmost ofthe nation in 2012 and currently affects large parts ofthe Southwest will also become more common, more severe, and last longer.• Yields offood crops, including com, soybeans and rice, that are already depressed byclimate change will fall even more. Crop failures will drive up prices beyondthe 10% spike seen in July 2012 due tothe Midwestern drought. • Food shortages will exacerbate undernutrition everywhere. Here at home more than 40 million citizens rely on the SupplementalNutritionAssistance Program and in some nations, undernutrition affects almosthalfofthe kids. • Furtherweakenedby starvation, children will fail to grow normally and they will be more susceptible to diseases. Mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria, dengue, and viral encephalitis will become even greaterproblems. Some predict that almost halfofthe world's inhabitants, includingthose alongthe GulfCoast and Southern US will be at risk for dengue by 2085. • Water-borne diarrheal illness such as cholerawill pose additional risks in flooded areas. • Storms, such as Superstorm Sandy and other forms ofmore localized severe weatherwill become more common damaging property and killing and injuringthose unable to flee. • Sea levels will continue to rise due to thermal expansion ofthe oceans and melting ice. Inhabitants ofmajorriver deltas will become environmental refugees due to flooding. Rising oceans, combined with storm surges, already threaten areas that were previously safe. • Unstoppable, a term recently applied to meltingAntarctic ice will apply to otherthreats. PSR strongly supports EPA'smissionto protect human health and the environment. We appreciate the enormous health benefits that have been the result ofthe Clean Air Act. Itis pasttime to expand these benefits by reducing carbon dioxide emissions from new powerplants andto move onto the greater and more important tasks of reducingthese emissions from existing sources, encouraging energy efficiency, and expanding ourinventory ofrenewable energy sources by working closely with states, public health officials, and other stakeholders. This is the only way to slow, stop, and reverse the public healththreats posed by global warming. The time for waiting has passed. We urge the EPA finalize the proposedto limit carbon emissions as soon as possible andthen move onto additional protections needed to curb methane and othergreenhouse gas emissions. As the world's most advanced nation, we owe this to our children, grand children, and generations to come.