# v tJJ&rr

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**·~** Hello. I'm hereto supportthe Clean Power Plan. Irecently received a master ofscience in sustainable systems and one thing Ilearned while studying sustainable systems is thatour earth is one huge eco-system comprising thousands ofsmaller eco-systems, all delicately interwoven and interdependent. Another point Ilearned is how necessarygreenhouse gases are; these gases make a blanketcovering the earth, withoutwhich the sun's rays would reflect back outin space and we would have no heat. But what's been happening for the past 200 years is thatwe have been thickening this blanket ofgreenhouse gases byputtingmore and more carbon into the atmosphere. The more carbon thatgoes in, the heavier the blanket and the warmerthe earth gets. Since the beginning ofhuman civilization ouratmosphere contained about 275 ppm (parts per million, the ratio ofcarbon dioxide to all the other molecules in the atmosphere). As we burned fossil fuels over the past 200 years, thelevel has now reached 400 ppm. The considered safe level to avoid tipping points and irreversible impacts is 350 ppm. lfwe continue at our current pace, we ·Nil! not only continue to destroythe oalance ofthe eco-systems, we could make the earth uninhabitable for humans. The eartn will survive; our future generations may no-c. The earth is already demonstrating effects ofwarming, ofwhich I'm sureyou're all aware, but let mejust shout out a few. The sea levels are rising as well as the watertemperature, which causes more severe storms and is a threatto coastal cities and countries. Droughts and wildfires are ravaging ourwestern states. Glaciers are melting; the white ice sheets reflect sunrays back away from earth, now where the ice used to be, the tundra thatwas underneath absorbs the heat. This and more have a cumulative snowball effect; the more thathappens, the faster the effect. Even herP in western Pennsylvania, severe storms have increased. Until the 1980stornaaoes were rare, likelyto happen once everyhundred years. But now, it's commonplace toexpect a tornado watch. But that's minor compared to what's happening around the world. We are a global community and we have to be a world leaderin reducing the carbon emissions. And it is imperativetnatwe reduce carbon emissions now. The changes due to warming are happen,ng at a rate faster thanclimate models predicted. And Ihe carbon that's there doesn't dissipate quickly; it hangs around a icng ':ime. But we can ana need to getit down to 350 ppm. From a sciemiftc viewpoint, there's no questiOn. So why is there such hesitation abouttnese stanaards, these scandams th<:tjust begin to make a move toward reining in the amount oi carbon going into the 

### a'.r!' This is a time when 

### all people showd slap their hands on theirheads and say, 'Yes, we neE:d to do this. lt makEs sense." Even ifit weren't as dire as the latestreports areconfirming, it would only make sense to cut the carbon emissions anyway. To not limit the amountofcarbon we pump in the air is not only ludicrous; it's suicidal; ir'; already ieading to extmctions. How ironic it would he that we wipe ourselves offthe planet due to denial a.nd greed. The opposing viewpoints focus or, fear and scare tactics, primarily fear ofiosin€; jobs. Butthe real scare i'what is happening to our planet. There are no jobs on a dead planet. The co;npanies that made their fortunes in fossil f'-ieis need to turn to renewable energies. C.onsol Solar sounds prettygood! The renewable energies are the future. Putthejobs there. The fossil fuels are not sustainable; It took the earth milliOns ofyears to make ,[,e coal and oil reserves. Let's value wnat ;;; left ofthem and slow down the usage, instead ofdesper;;::ely mining and drilling and releasing the miliwns ofyears ofstored carbon thatis within mr:m. We can survive any possible economic ·=ffect; we c;•.nnot survive increased carbon levels. ! urge yiJu to fully implement the Clean Power Pian.