EPA Clean Power Plan Hearing 

Testimony- Elizabeth Perera, 

Senior Washington Representative on Climate Change 

Sierra Club, liz.perera@sierraclub.org 

~~'~ ':§. ~~~ ~~A Good aftet'll8 . My name is Liz Pererl and I am th enior ashington Representative on 

Climate Change for the Sierra Club. I am also the volunteer chair for the American Public 

Health Association's Climate and Health Topic Committee. 

I want to speak today on why the Sierra Club, with our 2.'4 million members supports the 

Environmental Protection Agency's first-ever carbon pollution standards for power plants and 

will work to strengthen these standards in the Clean Power Plan. But first, I'm going to take this 

opportunity to tell you why I personally care deeply about these carbon pollution standards for 

power plants. 

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First, I am a mother of two beautiful children, Lia (5) andAAiden (3). D171 will be 20. years 

old, in the prime ofht:rlife, in 2030 when this standard seeks to reduce emissions by 30%. And 

in 2050, whenfue will be 4(fin our home state of Maryland there are projections showing a 

possible 2 feet of sea-level rise and these predictions rise to 6 feet in 2100. The National Mall 

and this very building would be underwater in those scenarios and the islands we love so much 

on the Chesapeake Bay, like Smith Island, will potentially be gone long before 2050. Crisfield, 

Maryland home of our beloved "Crisfield Crab" is portrayed in NOAA's interactive sea-level 

rise tool as being underwater with • 1 ft of sea-level rise. And imagine when another 

Superstorm Sandy hits and we have a powerful storm surge on top of this sea-leveltise. Imagine 

the destruction and the lives lost in our area when it's our friends and family. It's not fair to my 

son and all of our children to do nothing in the face of reality. We must act now. 

As Sup~..:rs to rm Sandy taught us, the costs of climate inaction are too high. There is a dire need 

to move quiddy to climate solutions like wind, solar, and energy efficiency to stem th~.: climate 

crisis nne! protect our children 's future. Power plants are responsible for 40 percent of the carbon 

pollution in the US. By cleaning up and modernizing power plants, we will begin to clean up our 

air, reduce pollution-related illness, and curb climate disruption. I have a masters of public 

health and reducing carbon pollution from power plants will not only save billions of dollars 

each year, it will save lives. In fact, for every dollar of investment under the Plan, we'll see 

roughly seven dollars in health benefits. That's crucial to my fellow public health professionals 

with the American Public Health Association. 

The Clean Power Plan creates a strong framework that will enable states to move towards clean 

energy, and puts states in the driver's seat to create a plan to limit carbon pollution. The carbon 

pollution standards present a huge opportunity to improve our environment, public health and the 

economy. The US is well on its way to meeting and exceeding the EPA proposed goal and the 

state can be a leader in making the transition to a clean, equitable energy future. 

Sierra Club will be working with allies to strengthen the EPA's carbon standards for existing 

power plants. With improvements Sierra Club recommends the Clean Power Plan could: 
• reduce power plant emissions by 35-40 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. This is 

necessary to meet the president's goal of a 17 percent reduction in U.S. carbon emissions 

from 2005 levels by 2020, and 

• promote energy efficiency and renewable energy without incentivizing natural gas, 

nuclear energy and other climate-disrupting energy sources. 

In 2012, wind energy and solar photovoltaics (PV) were two ofthe fastest growing electric 

generation technologies in the United States: cumulative installed wind energy capacity 

increased by nearly 28% and cumulative installed solar photovoltaic capacity grew more than 

83% from the previous year. EPA rightly includes these resources in setting the state targets, but 

the availability and quantity ofRE opportunities assumed is too low. With a current account of 

retirements of dirty power plants and a more accurate estimate of growth in the renewable energy 

and energy efficiency sectors, the Clean Power Plan could produce deeper reductions in carbon 

emissions. The Sierra Club is detennined that the Clean Power Plan will result in strong and just 

state carbon pollution standards. This means we will also be working with our partners to ensure 

that the most vulnerable communities are protected by the standards and consulted throughout 

the standard-setting and state plan development process, and that sufficient public and private 

resources are made available to help workers and affected C<?mmunities make the transition to the 

clean-energy economy. 

Poll after poll demonstrates the public supports implementation of the Clean Air Act and letting 

the EPA do its job to protect public health and ensure a cleaner future for us all. We should not 

let a vocal minority of profit driven corporate polluters derail standards that will have 

tremendous benefits for our children, families and all Americans who value clean air and wild 

places. 

Again, we strongly support EPA's efforts to clean up dangerous carbon pollution and we 

strongly support this rule. Thank you.