Good afternoon, my name is Jayeesha Dutta and I work with the Gulf Restoration 

Network based in New Orleans, Louisiana. I was born in Mobile, Alabama, grew up 

in New York City, lived in the Bay Area of California and even right here in 

Colorado for a few years. Every single one of these places that I consider my 

home is suffering from the impacts of climate change: devastating flooding, sea 

level rise, record droughts, and stronger storm systems like Hurricane Sandy. As 

such, this is not only about my work - this issue is a personal one, close to my 

heart. The places I am most connected to and the people who are nearest and 

dearest to me are already suffering from the impacts of climate change. The time to 

take action is now, our communities, environment and economy cannot wait any 

longer. So I thank you for taking the time to hear my comments here in Denver 

today. 

I coordinate the Gulf Future Coalition, a diverse consortium of nearly 60 

community, environmental, arts and social justice organizations across the 5 Gulf 

Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. I am here 

today to urge the federal government to take swift, immediate and significant 

action around climate change before it is too late for many of the communities I am 

here representing today. For example, coastal Louisiana communities and tribes 

like the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw are becoming the 

first climate change refugees of our nation. The next decade or so will very likely 

wipe out the tribe's remaining strip of land, as most of the Island has already 

claimed by rising sea level due to climate change. 

Coastal land loss in areas such as Isle de Jean Charles has been accelerated due 

to oil and gas canals criss crossing our delicate ecosystem in the Gulf, another 

impetus for shifting our reliance on extractive energy to renewable, sustainable 

forms of energy production. Gulf coast communities and ecosystems have 

become highly vulnerable to climate change due to a host of factors such as sea 
level rise, subsidence, and increasingly strong storm systems on an annual basis. 

This has become even more obvious in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon 

explosion, which we will be spending decades recovering from. The costs of 

relocating people and planning to relocate folks now is cheaper in the long run 

than scattering impacted citizens to the wind, which we horrifically experienced 

during Katrina. However, we can avoid these relocation costs and the loss of 

culture that would inevitably come with a climate change diaspora by 

implementing clean energy standards and efficiency measures immediately. In this 

light, it is high time we work not only to cut carbon pollution but decrease our 

dependence on all forms of dirty energy. 

We support cutting carbon pollution, and commend the current ambitious plan to 

move our country away from dirty coal plants to a clean energy future. We also 

believe the proposed Plan must consider the EPA's Principles of Environmental 

Justice and Climate Justice for guidance. It is essential that in adopting the Plan, 

the EPA fulfill the intent of Executive Order 12898. We see a need for the EPA to 

conduct a thorough analysis of this proposed plan's impact on highly vulnerable 

and marginalized communities, and make it a required part of the State 

Implementation Planning Process. 

Additionally, we believe clean energy solutions must benefit all communities. 

Opportunities for clean energy jobs, education and affordable alternative energy 

solutions must be available for residents living in the most impacted communities 

such as those I currently serve in the Gulf Coast, one of the poorest regions in the 

country. The State Implementation Planning process must include leaders and 

advocates from these impacted communities at the table and this outreach should 

be included as a significant part of the SIP process. Also at the state level, we need 

to make sure that access to renewable and alternative energy opportunities are 

equitable. We must encourage a variety of avenues to insure eligibility of the 
widest swath of our citizenry to participate in programs for clean energy, possibly 

by partnering with community organizations, churches and local municipal 

agencies. Please consider these types of nontraditional collaborations to address 

an unprecedented dilemma. 

Finally, we believe coal exports are a problem that need to be addressed. Gulf 

Coast states are feeling the impact of that, too. Frontline communities in our 

region near coal export terminals and along rail routes are often affected by these 

exports - contributing to adverse health consequences, lower property values and 

degradation of the environment. Further, even if the US is not burning the coal, by 

exporting it somewhere else for it to be consumed, we haven't done anything to 

decrease the impact on our climate. We cannot mine, transport, ship and burn all 

that coal and also avert the worst climate impacts. As such, we encourage the 

Agency to also adopt strict regulation and enforcement of coal exports in this 

Plan. 

While the current proposed Clean Power Plan is a step in the right direction, we 

urge the Agency to take courageous action in developing a systemic approach 

instead of a symptomatic one, to broaden the breadth and depth and be 

comprehensive in addressing these interconnected and urgent issues. As I have 

shared with you this afternoon, the Gulf Coast is on the front lines in experiencing 

the impacts of the climate change. We know it will take a concerted and 

coordinated effort from federal, state and local agencies in tandem with 

communities across the country to build a resilient, healthy and clean future for us 

all. Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns and 

recommendations to move us in that direction.