EPA TESTIMONY 

July 30, Washington D.C. 

Rev. Marjani Dele from Victoria, Virginia. I am a board member 

for Virginia lnterf ith Power & Light, founder of Nature's Frienct s. 

0 re[~u N e~ ~, U n~~ uj lik c~'~ ~.t~pd-~ 5+ ~ U ~ u Rr-~-

v~

on s 

Peace and Blessings to all. The last time I testified on behalf of 

standards for power plants, I cited the facts from a report 

published by the N.A.A.CP. entitled The Coal Blooded Report: 

Putting Profits before People. I won't repeat all of the shocking 

statistics contained in that report such as the death rate from 

asthma is 172% higher for African Americans than for Whites or 

the fact that people who live within 3 miles of a coal power 

plant—regardless of ethnicity-- tend to have an average per 

capita income of $18,400. 

Today I want to speak to the moral principle behind your 

decision making. The principle of rightly dividing the word of 

Truth. The reference for that is in 2 Timothy 2:15; where we are 

asked to study to show yourself approved, a worker who has 

no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing / explaining the word 

of Truth. 

We've started off on the right foot with these hearings, 

because these hearings are a type of study. It's good to study, 

to listen to different points of view and perspectives so that we 

can make WISE choices. Where we tend to go a little astray is in 

dividing the word of truth. We can tell we have gone a little 

astray because somehow in this whole energy production 

business, we've taken an abundant and beautiful creation 

which was gifted to us and turned it into a battlefield with 

profits on one side and the Earth with its people on the other. I 

don't think that is nice or necessary, or what God calls us to do. 

In Genesis, the second chapter, fifteenth verse, the very first 

thing that God asks man to do—the very first thing God asks 

man to do is serve and preserve the earth. Before man was 

asked to love his neighbor, love God or care for the least of 
these, he was asked to love the earth. You could say that it was 

a type of first commandment. And it should be the easiest 

commandment to keep because God already gave us a 

beautiful, abundant, self regenerating planet. AII we had to do 

was keep it moving. 

Along with that planet, we were given a lot of intelligence and 

the power to be co-laborers with God, so we don't need to 

decide between our health and a job; we can create a proud 

and productive work culture that doesn't require tearing up the 

earth. We can be wealthy AND healthy, and these standards, 

the Clean Power Plan is one step in right direction. Let's 

remember that every time standards have been proposed in 

every time of history, industry has always cried and whined like 

a spoiled brat. And every time the standards pushed back, 

innovation saved the day. 

Americans are known for innovation and if we put half the 

energy into refining solar energy and wind energy that we put 

into fighting each other, we would already have the right 

solution. Don't you believe that workers in the fossil fuel industry 

have the right to a safe, healthy work environment? Don't they 

deserve the opportunity to transition into a clean energy 

economy with the rest of us? If you had attended the recent 

meeting in Wytheville,Virginia., you would have heard them 

responding 5 to one, YES!! People in Southwest Virginia want 

the fossil fuel industry to obey standards which make coal safer 

for everyone as well as the planet. 

I say this Clean Power Plan is just the kick in the pants we need 

to innovate ourselves into a more productive energy business. 

Let's stop crying and whining and just do it. 

Thank you 

(!/)41) 3 ~Fy- s- 6.5- 0 

4GP ~iYYI