US EPA Carbon Pollution Standards Public Hearings 

Thursday, May 24, 2012 

Chicago Illinois 

Testimony of Theodore Carrington 

Theodore Carrington 

earring ton tcdrii:ao !.com 

732.991.7790 

Good afternoon. My name is Theodore Carrington; I am a resident of 

Franklin Park, New Jersey, located near the middle of the state. I am 

the Chairperson ofthe Environme:1.tal and Climate Justice Program for 

the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, the nation's oldest 

and largest civil rights organization. 

Let me start by stating that every one of us has the right to breathe 

clean, healthy air·-

• air rhat is not saturated with :;arbon dioxide, 

• clean air that will not make you sick each day when you take a 

brez.tl,., 

o clean ai:- that does not irnr ar~ your health because of accumulated 

effects of breathing in carbon dioxide, over a lifetime ... in a 

year ... every single day. 

We have f~,~ right to breathe c,ean air, free of carbon dioxide and other 

pollut~mt>. 

The propm;ed rule will reduce the harmful impacts of carbon dioxide, a 

major contributor to global warming: that makes our cities hotter and 

causes increases in asthma attacks and respiratory complications. 

Carbon dioxide has a ~reat impact on a state like New Jersey which is 

ranked the 41

'· smallest state in the Jl1 1 0'1, yet 11th in population. New 

Jerse:' is ranked fifth in the naticn for new cancer cases each year. 

New Jerse;' has five (5) power ;"Jla'lt' th~t emit tons of carbon dioxide 

into the av each year, plus wear~ impacted by the power plants located 
in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Data from 2005 indicates 

that Penns:rlvania has 78 coal-fired generating units' emitting carbon 

dioxide in~o the air and the eastedv wind currents blow carbon dioxide 

• 

and other pollutants into New Je:·sey every day. Because of the dense 

population in New Jersey, over 7 mid ion people are exposed to power 

plant pollution each year and that includes more than one and a half 

million children of which 244,225 are in poverty conditions and 99,488 

suffer from asthma. This is a devastating combination for our 

communities wheP our childre'l ':llust compete on a world market and 

they s~art off life poor and sick. 

Two :~fNJ 's power plants are lo:;atcd in dense 1y populated areas of the 

state wh;:rr:' large numbers of Blacks and Latinos 1

ive. The Hudson 

generating statioP and the Mem:r facility have recently reduced the 

amount of harmful emissions they emit into the air each year. The two 

facilides nid not reduce the emissions because they were concerned that 

he emis~;ilms were casing harm :o Le community. They were not 

concemed d18X our children were gruwing up with illnesses that would 

prevent th~m rrom panicipatmg :n simple playtime activities or cause 

them lC JlaVC difficult) 1 in schcol. rhe tuv,l facilities were forced to 

reducl~ toxic Cc·nissions 'Jecaus~ of Jawsuits and the threat cflawsuits. 

The rf.:der"' government had to step in and make the companies do what 

they 'Here :;up posed to do in the '1rst p' ace. The corporations were 

suppos~l~ l'J reduce the emission; bcr·ause it wa.s the right thing to do. 

This;:, anJt~w: example oftre nnwer ;;!ant ir.dus+ry putting profits over 

the hr:-<Jlth )ft11e most vulnerable. 

Altlw·1g:. i1e (~missions frorr, :.1c~ t,<)~er plams have been F:-duced, the 

poJlut'ng : r)rLinues to assaul"t co·nm. nnies th2t w;ll be affi~cted for 

m8ny year'; w come. That is wtly we; need nr;;w source performance 

standBrd:. ··1itiatea by the EPA; vi~ v,dl b~ scm.;;vr~at satisi~ed to know 

f(]at rww r•.1W :-r plants will nu. add signif;cant amounts Gf carbon 

cioxine to the air. ·rnere woulG o..: a greater sense ofsatistaction ifwe 

were aJle w do accunulatea h .:~::lth impact analysis and decermine what 

ccmrru:rr~ :=:; :.·mve l·,l!:h !eves y'nit:·· us cxic'~ ·m•:i 5uifut ci-::;,xide. 
These are :)recursors to particulate m::1tter, a microscopic unit that is 

causing coronary havoc in Blacl: and Latino communities. 

Finally, last Saturday I attended·:~ three mile community walk in 

Central NJ and had the opportunity to communicate with one of the 

walk~~s. I no:iced she was distr::_cteJ from our conversation; she 

exclaimed she wasn't bei!lg rude, Dut she was concentrating on her 

child. It sf'emed the young girl wanted to do more than walk; she 

wantf'd to rur and play with )·,r.r tfer-:ls, hut her parent knew that any 

overexertion could cause her to experience 2 life threatening asthma 

attack It was all t~e mother ~auld do to keep her child contained when 

she shol'ic be in the active prime of her young life. Despite the 

parent's effors to contain he:r d> ilrL the young girl still had to leave the 

walk ,·.ufferin\~ a mild ::1sthm~ att~:Kk. 

VII e shouk nu have to suffe1 J ·,s t1ec~·us ~we b:·eathe. EPA's proposed 

carbon poi'~Jbm stan<.hrd fw Lt·N r'JO\ver plar:t~ i~ a s1en in the right 

direction.