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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