Clean Power Plan

Introduction My name is Robert Castellino. CA S T E L L I N O I am a professional photographer and self-published author. Colorado has been my home for 40 years. I love Colorado because of it's natural beauty, immense diversity and outdoor life-style. I've spent more than three of those years camping in the wilds of Colorado. Over those years I have photographed, written and published 5 books about Colorado each with a chapter designated to the Ecology of Commerce. As a result, I have witnessed and recorded significant visual changes and physical environmental degradation to Colorado's sensitive and fragile ecology due to the onslaught of the global climate crisis. It concerns and saddens me deeply. Burning coal to electrify, heat and cool our homes, government operations and businesses is exacerbating our problems. In 2010, The EPA itself, reported there were a total of 454 US power plants that used coal to generate at least 95% of their electricity. Those plants emitted about 1.7 trillion metric tons of CO 2 into our air. That's a lot of pollution. In Colorado alone for the year 2012 Coal Plant Emissions were approximately 35 million metric tons equivalent to the emissions of 6.7 million automobiles.

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reeteReducing Power Plants emissions 30% nationwideAwould be the equivalent taking 350 million gas powered automobiles off the road!Some of the effects and outcomes driving the global climate crisis in

Colorado are: —Warmer and Longer spring and fall seasons, and shortened winters with lower than average snowpack creating water shortages across the west. —Melting glaciers in Colorado are effecting stable long term water supplies for dense populations along the front range. —Extended Droughts like the one effecting the SE portion of our state are estimated to be three times worse than the dust bowl era of the 1930's. —Extensive vast tracks pine forests are being decimated the pine and spruce beatles. Their life cycle two times each season as a result. And its happening all across North America. — We experience more and frequent forest fires that burn hotter, and thoroughly destroying our homes, land, diverse wild ecology and eco-tourist based economy.

—We have Extreme Weather Events like the out of season flood of September 2013 affected an area 4,500 sq miles wide, destroying 485 miles of road and damaging 120 bridges. Plus1,882 homes were destroyed, with 26,000 households. The cost? $2.5 billion and rising. All these are drawing an exacting toll and cost that cannot be enumerated in actual dollars and cents nor in t rms of the decrease in the quality of our lives oVier,*per.Ain 

### 1/4ff Let's look at the bright side for a moment from an economic perspective. In 2008 BusinessWeek's web site reported, the top 25 coal producers had combined total revenues of $349 billion in 2007. Then, let's redistribute 30% of those revenues or $105 Billion dollars to renewable energy sector of the economy over the next 15 years. Those dollars would equate to new investment, and infrastructure. It will create sustainable businesses, and jobs in the energy efficiency, wind, solar, geothermal, solar thermal, hydroelectric and biomass energy industries.The hard dollars saved after the initial investments and amortized in short

run would revitalize American communities and put hard earned dollars back in the pockets of average and lower income wage earners over the long haul. The Clean Power Plan cost to the tax payer? Not a single penny. It's a REAL stimulus package that will go the distance towards creating economic recovery, that is, truly sustainable. Rolling back green house gases 17% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels is a good but 2030 is to far in the distant future for a task needed to have been done by today. For all its worth, Clean Power Plan proposed by the EPA is a great first step that will benefit ours and future generations to come. Thank you for your time.