Comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency on the proposed Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units Docket ID 

### #: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 Submitted by Richard Nunno Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter 30 July 2014 Good evening EPA leaders and staff. I am a member ofthe board ofthe DC Chapter ofthe Sierra Club. We advocate for progressive change on a wide range of local issues affectingthe Washington, DC community. These include increasing energy conservation and promoting renewable sources of energy in DC, supportingthe National Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, supporting weatherization of homes and buildings, and promoting legislation for smart energy policy. We also have extensive efforts underway in the areas oftransportation and smart growth, zero waste legislation and policy, environmental justice, and loweringthe carbon footprints of individual citizens. Our Chapter and our Club as awhole supportthe EPA's efforts in general to regulate gases that contribute to climate change, and in particular its Clean Power Plan. • As the most urban Sierra Club chapter in the nation, our constituents are exposed to the harmful health effects ofdirty energy more so than most state-based chapters, and we are acutely aware ofthe risks offailing to reduce the nation's and the world's carbon output in terms ofenvironmental degradation and increasing environmental catastrophes. • Power plants account for 40% ofthe carbon pollution in the United States, and most urban dwellers live in areas wherethe air is unsafe to breathe, making the Clean Power Plan a critical step to reduce those risks. • The Plan will preventthousands ofasthma cases and premature deaths annually, and will drive innovation in clean energy sources, growingthe economy and creatingjobs. • From the soot and smog reductions alone, each dollar invested in the Plan will net Americans $7 in health benefits. We cannot afford to fail to regulate carbon pollution. • While some states like West Virginia have a long way to go to meetthe proposed standard, they will have afull decade before theywould have to show progress, and initial improvements will be far easier for West Virginia than for other states that have already made progress. • We embrace the idea that the Plan is designed to shift the nation away from coal, and we oppose the idea of ramping up the coal industryfor export to China and India. And the vast majority ofAmericans agree with us. • Indeed, the proposed Plan does not do enough in protectingthe health ofthe front-line communities that are exposed to the hazards ofcoal mining and burning, but it is a good first step toward the ultimate goals. • To repeat the words from Senator Markey's speech at yesterday's rally, "You can't preach temperance from a bar stool" to the rest ofthe world on climate change. Weneed to wean offofcoal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy, and ramp up our use of renewables along with improving ourenergy efficiency by orders ofmagnitudeto forestall aclimate crisis. It is onlyfairtofuture generationsto act responsibly now
. • Ifwe don't take action at the national level, itwill be impossible to convince other nationsto do so. • The time is far overdue to end the corporate control ofour energy policy and totake actions in the best interest ofour citizens oftoday and thefuture

. Thankyou forthe opportunityto share myviews

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Richard M. Nunno 

### 3539 13th St

. NW Washington, DC 

### 20010 (202)361-6164