EPA Clean Power Plan Testimonv 

t'oUNB SABERI_ NID_ IVIPH 

iuiv 30.2014 

Washineton_ DC 

There is a Dakota Indian saving that goes like this: " When vou find vourself riding a dead horse, 

dismount." 

Mv name is Dr. Poune Saberi and I am a nhvsician in Occupationai and Enviromnental Medicine 

and a faculty member at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. I am here to say. fossi$ 

fuels are dead and we must dismount. 

The Clean Power Plan is a key life saving move and I want to thank EPA for their initiative.. I 

want to tell vou about a first encounter with a natient that I will never foreet. The initial visit 

staried out routine. but when I asked if she had anv children_ her eves wel ~led up and she began 

telling me the story of her 17 year old son destined for college with schoiarship, raised as an onle 

child bv this single mother. One dav she received a call that he had an asthma attack and was 

taken to the emereencv room. This time the asthma attack _nroved to be fatat and she never ever, 

had a chance to speak to him before he stopped breathing. 

44% of all asthma hospitalizations are for children. I practiced primary care for ten years before 

specializing in Occupational and Environmental medicine. I have seen the wide spectrum of 

Datients hurt bv exposure to outdoor air po llution. Seeing t he alarminglv ranid and shallow 

breathing of an infant is not an experience you would want to voluntarilv take part in. It is heare 

breaking when the vulnerable among us unfairly take a large hit from our actions. 

At the other end of the spectrum are the workers in the fossil fuel industrv. I live and work in 

Pennsylvania where rnethane gas development has exposed many of the workers to volatile 

oreanic comnounds. silica sand and radioactive material. A 26-year-old worker died in SWPA 

when a methane gas well exploded. This is why I am here todav. When industry focuses on 

profits over health, it is up to us to raise our voices against these unacceptable sacrifices. 

i commend EPA for introducine this rule. However_ this is just an introduction - an introduction 

to a promising direction as a society if we all agree to make the efficiency proposal much more 

strinaent and the focus on non-combustibles much more robum. 

Here are the strong points of the CIean Power Plan 

:- The co-benefits. That means when CO2 is reduced manv other air oolIutants are also 

reduced, like S02, NOx and Hg. These outdoor poilutants are considered carcinogenit. 

Therefore. when there are less of them, there is less lune cancer_ less bladder cancer_ less 

memorv Ioss. 

2- Less carbon dioxide means lower utilitv bills. That is always good for everyone's 

pockets. 

s`- Lowering CO2 equats lowering green house gases in the atmosphere and addressing the 

impacts CO2 has on global heating. Less ocean acidification helps fisheries: Iess extreme 
;°eatner natterns hetn agriculture and commerce. And lastiv, mitigating climate change 

viii have its own health benefits bv reducine the ferocitv of floods, tornadoes and 

,urricanes. 

There are many things in our world today we cannot fix. T'nis one we can. 

Here is. what I believe. this rule has ienorec. 

1- Focusin¢ on downstream CO2 emissions from power plants and ignoring upstream impacts 

of coal and eas production is like a doctor just treating the bruises without acknowledging the 

domestic vioience hanpening at home. There is a high risk of heatth exposure and 

environmental hazards at each step of extraction, production and transport. We must consider 

the entire life cycle of energy production. 

2- Non-combustion sources of eneray production like solar, wind and geothermal will help the 

states reach the CO2 reductions faster and earlier with less GHG production. Switching coal 

2ower piants to natural gas or nuclear is like switching from one addictive drug to another. 

The problem has not been addressed. Natural gas and nuclear are not viable alternatives to 

coal. 

3- Non-combustible energy production is a labor-intensive economy and creates many jobs. The 

occupational hazards are minimal and the sun and wind resources are not siphoned off like 

iossii fuel leading to boom bust cycles. Conversely, coal miners and oil and gas workers have 

some of the most dangerous jobs in the US. Switching away from these jobs to jobs that are 

much less hazardous, workers and laborers will benefit by staying healthy, as well as 

continue to be proud financial providers for themselves and their families. 

Inn summary, we must phase out coal, not transition to natural gas or nuclear and fully embrace 

non-carbon, non-combustible sources of energy. 

I will end by pleading that this administration transition from being a world leader in pollution to 

being a world leader in energy solution. 

T`nank vou.