STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH POYTHRESS, President, League of Women Voters of 

Georgia TO the EPA LISTENING SESSION, July 29, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia 

Thank you for this opportunity to speak on the Environmental Protection Agency's 

Clean Power Plan. Also, thank you for conducting these regional hearings to allow 

for public comments on a broad scale. 

The air we breathe is critical to the health of all Americans, and particularly critical 

for the young, old, and impaired. We as Americans are obligated to preserve our 

natural resocurces- including clean, breathable air! 

It is the position of the League of Women Voters of Georgia and the other 49 

Leagues in all 50 states, that we, as responsible Americans, owe a profound moral 

obligation to our children and to future generations to act now to protect them 

from the effects of climate change, which we know is caused in part by carbon 

pollution from power plants. We do have a moral obligation to protect our 

children and future generations. I am here today to thank the EPA for providing 

our population with protection by adopting standards for the 40% of carbon 

pollution from existing and new power plants in the United States. These 

emissions cause climate change and thousands of deaths every year. 

In Georgia, we are have been taking the necessary steps to cut carbon pollution. 

Between 2008 and 2011 carbon emissions in Georgia dropped 20 percent and 

through the EPA's Clean Power Plan, Georgia will have the flexibility to continue 

this positive momentum. 

The standards proposed by the EPA are aggressive and ambitious. We urge the 

EPA to do even more to strengthen the proposal to recognize the tremendous 

potential for renewable energy and energy conservation. Cutting carbon 

emissions will protect public health by extending limits like the ones placed on 

arsenic, lead, mercury and soot. Reducing emissions from existing power plants is 

critical to addressing the growing danger that climate change poses to the health 

and welfare of U.S. citizens and people around the world, as acknowledged by 

both leading climate scientists and the EPA. 
The American Lung Association, in its State of the Air Report, states that millions 

of Americans across our country, including children and the elderly, live in areas 

that received an "F" rating for at least one air quality measure. In Georgia, the 

four major metropolitan counties, Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett, have over 

800, 000 children that are in these "F" rated areas. This is unacceptable and must 

be changed. 

Leading public health organizations, including the American Medical Association, 

the American Lung Association, the American Nurses Association, the American 

Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Public Health Association have gone on 

record calling "climate change a serious public health issue." In Georgia alone 8.2 

percent of adults suffer from asthma, and across the country asthma rates have 

doubled. Until the US can get a handle on the dirty air, exacerbated by the climate 

change caused by carbon pollution, we will continue to see thousands of 

premature deaths, respiratory disease and a higher risk of asthma attacks. 

On behalf of the children, and unborn generations of children, the League of 

Women Voters of Georgia urges the EPA to adopt strong carbon pollution 

standards for existing and new power plants and , to address one of the main 

causes of climate change. The implementation of strong carbon pollution 

standard will protect the health of all Americans from its devastating impact. 

Thank you, again, for providing the opportunity for this public hearing to allow the 

public to express their comments on this vital public health issue that will impact 

the citizens of Georgia and the United States. 

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l.!iU.LJ: \( :l 1: ( lF II ( J:111:c, \'( J I ERS 

-OF GEORGIA 

Elizabeth Poythress 1 President 

PpuytiJress·@llvvga.org I www.lwvga.org 

u:fiC() 404.522.4598 I cell 40~.216.0454 

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