### Testimony Given Before the Environmental Protection Agency,

July 30, 2014, Washington, DC Good afternoon. My name is David Kepley. I am an elder and deacon at Providence Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, VA, and I am chair of our church's Earth Care Team. 1 also represent a group of 10 Presbyterian churches in the national capitol area that have earned the right to be called "Earth Care Congregations" by annually meeting rigorous environmental standards set by our denomination. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the Environmental Protection Agency on this critical issue to our nation's health and well being! I raise my voice with those around this country who praise you for having the courage to propose these regulations on new and existing power plants. I am hoping that this will be but the first step towards a more comprehensive approach in reducing our nation's reliance on fossil fuels. I am speaking to you today both as a faith leader in my community and as a father of two wonderful young men. In my faith tradition, when we want to understand how we are supposed to interact with each other w consult the Bible. One passage that illustrates much of what is central to my faith about the Creation comes from the book of Leviticus: [God said] "the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land." (Lev 25: 23-24) These verses allude to several themes that are foundational to my concept of God's relationship to the Creation and to humankind. The passage points to humanity's special role in God's creation. Humankind is an integral part of the Creation, but while God encourages us to draw sustenance from the land, we are also expected to "redeem" the land. In the Judeo-Christian tradition this means that God expects humans to be faithful stewards of the Creation, sharing with God in its maintenance. Failure to do so will disrupt the delicate balance God has established to our peril. The passage also compares us with "renters," who cannot just do anything we please with the land, but must act in accordance with the wishes of the owner of the land - God. To me this means that to be wasteful of the land's bounty or to despoil it with substances that are harmful to people or other life forms is not just unproductive, but is an affront to God. It is comparable to the desecration of sites that our great world religions regard as sacred.In my view the EPA has identified one of those areas where we humans have

ignored our role as good stewards of the Creation. We know that coal is a carbonintensive fossil fuel whose combustion produces enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. While these emissions will have a significant and inequitable impact on future generations through global climate change, they also have a deleterious impact on present generations through mercury pollution, acid rain, and the aesthetic destruction of mountaintops and valleys.

This leads me to the second reason that I wanted to address the EPA this afternoon. I am a dad. One of my boys suffered from asthma during most of his boyhood. He was an active energetic child, but he always had to have his "puffer" with him in case he suffered a debilitating attack. We know that coal-burning power plants introduce toxins in the air that can trigger asthrnatic reactions among children. You have heard much from the power industry about how we cannot afford the EPA's proposed regulations. If my family is any indication, we are already paying the price through high health care costs. Thank you for your kind attention. David R. Kepley 9113 Windflower Lane Annandale, VA 22003

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