July 28, 2014

Gina McCarthy Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Administrator 1101A 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460

RE: Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602

Dear Administrator McCarthy:

I am writing to support the proposed carbon pollution rules. Carbon pollution is a threat to the natural environment and Americans' health and safety. This is because rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are heating the planet and changing the climate in dangerous ways. These dangers include changes in weather and precipitation patterns that result in flooding, drought, and extreme weather; changes in the ranges of plants, insects, and animals that result in ecological disruptions, crop loss, and loss of natural resources; rising seas; and ocean acidification.

In Iowa, for example, we have now suffered 20 major Presidential disaster declarations just since March, 2007. Last month, June 29-30, Cedar Rapids suffered another flash flood and severe storm which has not yet been declared a Presidential disaster, but one teenager was killed, infrastructure was damaged, houses were ruined, and hundreds of vehicles were destroyed. Over the last 25 years, our state has suffered over $20 billion in damage from floods alone. In 2008, Cedar Rapids suffered an unprecedented flood from the Cedar River (more than 10 feet higher than any previous flood). It was the most costly flood in state history at $5 billion for a city of 125,000, or $40,000 of damage per resident. These types of disasters cause real costs and real consequences for real people, including both emotional heartache and economic hardship.

In addition to flooding and storms, Iowa also faced significant losses from drought in 2012, and Iowans continue to face ongoing losses from the dramatic decline of game species like pheasants and the increasing ecological disruptions of invasive pests. But these losses are just the start of an era of climate disasters, unless we take action.

In an open letter to the United States Senate on October 21, 2009, America's leading scientists warned us that "the severity of climate change impacts is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades." The carbon pollution rules are an essential step to begin to limit the future costs of climate-related disasters.

No one set out to cause the climate problem, but all Americans have the responsibility to recognize it and do our part to help stop it. Individual Americans cannot do it alone. We urgently need our government to adopt carbon pollution rules to help slow down and eventually stop and reverse the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.Gina McCarthy

July 28, 2014 Page 2

The proposed rules give states significant flexibility in how to meet the carbon pollution standards. That makes sense because different solutions will work best in different states. What is clear is that many climate solutions — such as energy conservation, energy efficiency, demand management, cogeneration, green buildings, wind, solar, biogas, and other renewable energy sources — work for our economy by creating jobs and saving money on fossil fuels. These climate solutions also work for our health by reducing pollution. These solutions are already at work in Iowa and across America.

Some people are concerned that the carbon pollution rules do no go far enough or that the carbon pollution rules, by themselves, will not be effective. These concerns fail to recognize that the carbon pollution rules are not the only action Americans are taking to fight climate change. For the fight against climate change to be effective, carbon pollution rules are absolutely necessary, but they are only one of thousands of actions Americans can take — individually and as a country — to safeguard our people and property from the threat of climate change and to achieve long-term sustainability.

It is time for climate action. It is time to adopt the carbon pollution rules.

Sincerely,

Rob Hogg State Senator District 33

cc: Environmental Protection Agency EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) Mailcode 28221T Attention Docket ID No. OAR-2013-0602 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460

Senator Rob Hogg 2750 Otis Road SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 (319) 247-0223 (home) rob.hogg@legis.iowa.gov