July 30, 2014 

Chris Carnevale, 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 Chris Carnevale and I work for the Southern Alliance 

for Clean Energy. I am from Charleston, South Carolina and I am speaking in 

support of placing limits on carbon pollution to protect treasured places like 

Charleston and other coastal communities in the Southeast. 

Charleston is a place of significant cultural and historical heritage, but the impacts 

of climate change-such as sea level rise and ocean acidification-threaten our 

way of life, and our connection to past generations. 

Charleston has held the designation of the Best City to Visit in the U.S. by both 

Conde Nast Magazine and Travel & Leisure Magazine for the last several years. If 

you have visited Charleston, you know why. You know that if the walls of the 

buildings could speak, they could tell you stories spanning hundreds of years. The 

walls ofthe Powder Magazine on Cumberland Street would tell you about the 

original fortification of Charles Town and battles between South Carolinian 

colonists and Native Americans, French, and Spanish, and later, fighting an 

American war for independence. Those of the grand mansions south of Broad 

Street would speak of the immense wealth generated by King Cotton, while the 

Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street would tell about the slave rebellion 

plotted by one ofthe church's founders. Fort Sumter's ramparts would talk about 

the first shots of the Civil War, fired right there in Charleston Harbor, and the 

County courthouse would tell the story of hosting the first court case to 

desegregate public schools in America. 

Yet these monuments, which serve as a tangible link to our past, are immensely 

vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise. All of them are at less than 10 feet 

above sea level and some are as low as three. Meanwhile the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration projects as much as 6.6 feet of global sea level 

rise over the course of this century alone. Not only would this mean losing many 

national treasures like these to inundation but also that we would lose much of 

the backbone of Charleston's current economy. Visitors come here to participate 

in our rich history, by visiting National Historic Monuments, or simply by taking in 

the ambiance while strolling along our cobblestone streets. 

But, it's not just the built environment that gives Charleston its quintessentially 

Southern charm and deep sense of history-Charleston would not be complete 
without its natural beauty as well. Southern Live Oaks, draped in Spanish moss, are 

an icon of the South and are abundant here, lining the driveways of historic 

plantations and sea island boulevards. Some were even here well before 

Europeans arrived. The Angel Oak on Johns Island, for example, is thought to be as 

old as one thousand, five hundred years. Not only is it supposed to have hosted 

ceremonies for Creek Indian tribes, but also has served as a place of refuge and 

recreation for families for generations. Yet these live oaks may become threatened 

as saltwater encroaches upon their root zones due to sea level rise-particularly 

those alongside tidal sources of water. 

Furthermore, the saltwater marshes are home to all sorts of valuable aquatic 

creatures, including those that have formed the basis of the Lowcountry's food 

traditions for many, many years-shrimp and grits, she crab soup, and oysters, to 

name a few. Yet these creatures are in peril from the impacts of climate change, 

too. Salt water intrusion, combined with drought, has raised salinity levels in our 

marshes enough to begin killing our marsh grasses, which provide necessary 

habitat to many of our heritage seafoods, while ocean acidification from excess 

atmospheric carbon compounds the risk. 

As you can gather from what I'm saying, Charleston is a place overflowing with rich 

history and culture, rooted in the built environment, natural landscape, and 

culinary traditions. Yet these things, which serve as critical links to our past, for our 

enjoyment in the present, and means of prosperity in the future, are all 

jeopardized by carbon-fueled climate change. 

Charleston and South Carolina are not alone in facing these threats. Many coastal 

cities in the Southeast, such as Wilmington, Savannah, Miami, and Tampa, have 

completely unique cultural and environmental assets that have endured for 

centuries, yet are now facing catastrophic impacts because of climate change. I 

personally would like to continue to enjoy these treasures for the rest of my life, 

and I'd like for future generations to enjoy them as much as our generation has. It 

is for this reason that I wish to express great support for limiting carbon pollution 

from power plants. 

Thank you.