EPA public HearingJuly 

### 29'h 2014Atlanta Millions of us citizens, foryears, have been taking action to bringabout positive environmental change in our country and for our world. Individually we have been recycling paper and cardboard and usingourown cloth bags at grocery stores to "Save the Trees". We have been dutifully recycling number one and numbertwo plastic bottles and containers in the desire to save our nonrenewable resources. For Fortyyears we have been turningoutthe lights when we leave the room. We have searched for and found energy efficient appliances and vehicles. We turn the water off in the sink while brushing ourteeth. We have been composting our kitchen scraps and keepingthe pressure up in ourcartires. We have been takingthe hard path by paying extra for thetrash pickup service that offered recycling. We have been using public transit when we can find it. We boughtthe curly fluorescent light bulbs to replace ourold incandescents. We have spent decades separating our recyclables and puttingthem out on the street in their own special bins. We wantto help. We have sincerely been tryingto tread lightly. What positive environmental gains have we made in this country and why. Well it has been more than 

### 40 years since a river burned. A lawwas passed, the Clean Water Act. The Mountains on three sides of Los Angeles can nowbe seen on most days ofthe year. Again a law, the Clean AirAct. The hole in our protective ozone layer is now levelingoffand startingto get thicker and more protective. Why? An international treaty called the Montreal Protocol. Although they mayget awarm fuzzy feelingfor doing it; positive changes have not been made by Mr. and Mrs. Treehugger ritualistically separatingtheirtrash before taking itto the curb. It is the Federal Governmentthat has the best chance of makingany kine;! ofdifference for our children and their children. Governments collect taxes, build infrastructure, fund important research, they provide an education forthe people; they protect its citizens from harm. Oh wait what was that last one? Harm? Harm from aggressive foreign Nations, Harm from unfair trade agreements, Harm from consequences ofGlobal Climate Change. Yes! I want to tell a short story: There was atown with a nice biggrass covered square. Everyone knewthat this was a space for all thetowns' citizens. Well one ofthe citizens raised cattle and his land was gettinga little thin. So he put one of his cows out on the town square. That cow gotfat and did quite well, so soon his friends and neighbors had their cows outthere too. You knowwhere this is heading. Soon the grass was gone and erosion set in and the land started washing away. Finallythe Mayorstepped up to his responsibilities and made a rule that no onecould put their cattle on the town square. That it was for Frisbees and picnics. The grass grew back, the fire in the riverwent out, the mountains were visible again, and the earth's protective shield was restored. Environmental Protection Agency you are the Mayor. This calls for atopside down solution. Even millions of Mr. and Mrs. Treehuggers could not change athing. You must do what we cannot do; you must get Jaws passed and enforce existing ones to protect our environment. We have tried for manyyears thinking and hoping our individual efforts would make our world safe for ourchildren, buttheywill not. Weface the biggest challenge we have ever faced with Climate Change. We are only beginningto see what we have caused. The Monarch butterfly is rapidly declining, Maple Syrup harvesting is becoming athing ofthe past, animal migrations are skewed and species are going extinct. We are experiencing droughts and fires and hurricanes and seem to set newtemperature records every year. This and much more have been predicted by the International Panel on Climate Change; the world's climate experts. We are in real trouble. Will protecting our climate cost more than "business as usual"? Ifso, I am willingto pay. Just imaginethe energy saving technologies that will be created when a "True Cost" is applied to energy. It is notjust "How fast we can get it out ofthe ground". It is ourfuture, our safety, our health, and the other species we share this great planet with. Let us do everythingwe can now so ourgrandchildren might respect us. We must take this small step on a long path towards sustainability. Itwill not be cheap and itwill not be easy, but we musttry. Please put yourfoot forward. Chuck Niemeyer Citizen ofthe United States and the Earth