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General BQard of Church and Society of 7h® United IUt®thodist Church 

100 Maryland Avenue, N.E. , Washington, D.C. 20002 -(202) 488-5600 

Fax: (202) 488-5619 - Email: gbcs :umc-gbcs.org • V/ebsite: www.umc-gbcs.org 

Environinental Protection Agency Public I-leai - ing oii 

Proposed Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants 

Docket: EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0660; FRL RIN 2060-AQ91 

Comments by John S. Hill - Director for Economic aiid Environt;nenta) Justicc 

Good nlorni.ng, my name is Jolm Hill and I serve as the Director for Economic and 

Environ>nental Justice at the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist 

Church. I stand before you toclay not as a scientist or engineer or even as an environmental 

advocate, but first and foremost as a person of faith called to care for God's good creation and to 

walk alongside my brothers and sisters around the globe who are struggling to survive the 

impacts of a changing climate. I am gratefi.il for the opporttrility to share comments today and 

for the EPA's cotnmitment to addressing the real and prescnt moral crisis of climate cllange. 

The United Metliodist Church is a global denomination witll rlearly 12 million mcmbers in over 

45,000 churches in the United States, Europe, the Philippines and across Africa. We represent a 

broad spectrum of political anci social views, but take seriously our connection to each othcr and 

to God's sacred gifts of water, land atid air. 

In our church's Social Principle entiticd Global Climate Stewardsllip, we acknowledge the unjust 

impact that our disregard for Creation has had on earth and our neighbors stating "the adverse 

impacts ofglobal climate cliange disproportionately affect individuals ancl nations least 

responsible for the emissions. We therefore support efforts of all governments to require 

mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and call on individuals, congregations, 

businesses, industries and cominunities to reduce their emissions." 2012 Boolc o,/'Dfsciplfnc, 

¶160 (D) 

Across The United Methodist Church — fro>;n afflucnt urban congregations here in Washington, 

DC to small rural churches from North Carolina to Nigeria, United Methodists are responding to 

God's call to protect Creation. By reducing our energy consumption, shifling to cleaner sourccs 

of energy and educating, equipping and mobilizing our churches, we are doing our part to reduce 

etnissions and promote healtliicr, sustaiiiable communities. Today, I am gratefiil that EPA is 

finally doing its part — a$er shameful years of inaction by our elected representatives - to reduce 

carbon pollution from power plants. 

You will hcar fro>in a lot of experts today, arined with statistics and science. This information is 

critical to making an informed decision. But for those of us in cliurches, ours is a ministry not of 

numbers and statistics but of names and stories. Ours is a ministry of relationships. When I hear 

from Rosemary in Uganda that lier women's farming co-op is tlireatened by changing rain 

patterns or when I sit with my colleague and fi•iend Kabwita from the Dctnocratic Republic of 

the Congo and hear how Iiis community is challenged by conflict over increasingly scarce 

® nmi ~m R ~ 0 sor iNK 
resources, I understand even more fully my responsibility — our complicity — in their struggle. 

The sad truth is that while we in our places of comfort and privilege in the United States have 

debated the science and argued the statistics and perpetuated our polluting ways, our brothers 

and sisters around the world — and in vulnerable communities here at home - have suffered. 

Now is our time to act. Today, I am here as a person of faith asking that EPA move quickly to 

fmalize carbon pollution standards for new power plants as a first step in meeting our 

responsibilities both to those who are bearing the burden of our present pollution and to future 

generations who will inherit this earth. Furthermore, I look forward to working with the 

Administration in the coming months to adopt rules for existing power plants so that we might 

hasten our transition to a cleaner, just and sustainable energy economy that protects God's planet 

and all of God's people. 

Thank you.