Testimony for EPA Hearing

July 31, 2014 Pittsburgh, PA

Hello, my name is Ian Smith and I live here in Pittsburgh. I am a Solar Energy Consultant for a local small business, Energy Independent Solutions. I am also an officer with the Solar Unified Network of Western Pennsylvania, a local industry and advocacy group. The opinions I will share today are my own, as an individual, millennial, and renewable energy professional, but do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these groups or organizations. I would like to voice my support for the EPA's proposed standard. I call for these regulations to be implemented without delay, and without any weakening or compromising of the standard. I believe the EPA has carefully weighed economic and technological considerations, and the resulting standard finds the right balance of challenging us to rise to the occasion, without being unrealistic or inconsiderate of economic realities. In fact, on the contrary, I believe that the economics of the Clean Power Plan are so overwhelmingly in our best interest as a country, we are compelled to implement this plan as quickly as possible. These economic benefits come in the form of new jobs and industries, health costs, and environmental benefits which, as we know, have real economic value. Many have spoken eloquently today about the realities of anthropogenic climate change. To my generation, and to reasonable people everywhere, this debate is settled, and the debate about what to do about it is well underway. However, I must confess, even if climate change was not a reality, my feelings on this issue would not change. We need to transition to clean, renewable sources of energy for the simple reason that the current energy system, dependent on fossil fuels, will run out of things to burn. As the resources become increasingly scarce, we will go to more and more extreme lengths to reach remaining reserves, with economic, social, and ecological consequences. We can debate about how many years of fossil fuels are left, but I think we can all agree that waiting until fossil fuels are gone to develop viable alternatives is not the wise course of action. Even if fossil fuel extraction and burning did not pollute our air and water, did not threaten species and biodiversity, did not cause thousands of premature deaths, wheezing children, and decades long international conflict and bloodshed, I would still be in favor of transitioning away from them as soon as possible simply because it is not a sustainable option to meet our energy needs over the long term. But of course, extracting and burning fossil fuels does all of those things. I'm sorry, but I will need a stronger argument than "the sun doesn't always shine" and "the wind doesn't always blow" to be convinced that there is not a better way. Statements like these are insulting to the ingenuity of a committed American populace. Clearly there are substantial challenges involved in this transition, but there is tremendous opportunity as well. America can play a leading role in developing the technologies that allow us to have clean, reliable, cost-effective energy for all, or we can allow big money and entrenched interests to keep the status quo to the detriment of all. The transition to clean energy will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, many times more than the amount of jobs lost as a result of this plan. I can imagine energy retrofit companies and solar installation crews comprised entirely of former coal miners. I envision energy engineers currently working in fossil fuel industries lending their expertise and knowledge to overcome the challenges of intermittent power. This will be an all hands on deck effort and the transition is hiring.