Testimony for EPA hearing on Clean Power Plan -july 2014 

Presented by Adrianna Quintero, senior attorney at NRDC and 

founder/director of Voces Verdes 

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to provide my 

comments. 

My name is Adrianna Quintero and I'm a senior attorney at the 

Natural Resources Defense Council, and founder of Voces Verdes, a 

national coalition of Latino leaders from business, civic and civil 

rights, medical and public health sectors, as well as organizational 

partners representing over 5 million Latinos nationwide. 

Voces' leaders advocate for action to combat climate change and 

support clean energy. As the director of Voces, I'm here to express 

strong support for the Clean Power Plan. 

Our partners recently submitted a letter of support for the Clean 

Power Plan urging EPA to finalize the strongest carbon pollution 

standard for existing power plants, to address the main cause of 

climate change and protect our health from the devastating impacts 

of extreme weather. 

We have an obligation to protect our children and future generations 

from climate change by addressing its causes-including carbon 

pollution from power plants. In the US, these plants are responsible 

for nearly 40% of the carbon pollution that is driving climate change. 

While we currently protect public health with limits on arsenic, lead, 

mercury, soot and other pollution from power plants, there are no 

existing national limits on carbon pollution. That's not safe. It must 

change. 

Nationally, nine in 10 Latinos want the government to take 

action against the dangers of climate change. Additionally, 8 in 10 

Latinos want the government to curb carbon pollution that drives 

climate change. This support holds across party lines with 54 
.. 

percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of 

Independents supporting presidential action. 

In Florida, one of the states most threatened by flooding and other 

impacts of climate change, almost 7 in 10 Latinos support the Clean 

Power Plan and 8 in 10 believe there should be limits on how much 

carbon pollution a power plant can release. 

This plan would also avoid up to: 6,600 premature deaths each year; 

150,000 asthma attacks for children; 3,300 heart attacks; and 

490,000 missed days of work or school by 2030. 

For Latinos, these health impacts cannot be underestimated since 

90% live in metropolitan areas, and 1 in 2 live in a state that doesn't 

meet air quality standards for ozone and air pollutants. As a result, 

Hispanic children are three times more likely than non-Hispanic 

white children to live in an area below air and ozone quality 

standards, and are almost twice as likely to be admitted to the 

hospital for asthma. 

For our leaders, the proposed clean power plan is not only about 

protecting our community's health but also about unleashing a 

tremendous economic potential. 

In our leadership coalition, 16 are business leaders and owners who 

recognize this as an opportunity to preserve our environment while 

also being good for business. This plan is good for our 

environment, our health and our economy; and will create incentives 

for entrepreneurs to enter the clean energy and efficiency space. 

I am also here as the mother of two children. We have the facts: 

scientists, governments, and health activists have been making the 

connections for year and sadly our children will pay the price of our 

fai I u re to act. 
This incessant political debate around proven climate science fueled 

by those who have put their financial interests before our well-being 

must stop. While they worry about lost revenue we must worry 

about: 

• increases in infectious diseases 

• increases in rates of child asthma 

• geopolitical instability 

• food shortages and increased poverty and inequality 

health costs of increased natural disasters such as super 

storms, drought, and hurricanes 

All of these are already impacting us and will impact future 

generations even more greatly. 

It's vitally important that we rally our friends, colleagues and 

families to raise their voices in support of this historic effort and I 

am committed to doing just that. 

Again, thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am counting on 

the EPA to establish clear and strong standards for carbon 

emissions from new and existing power plants.