### Comments for EPA hearing on the proposed Clean Power Plan, Atlanta, Georgia, July 29, 

### 2014on behalfofthe Climate Change TaskForce ofthe League ofWomen Voters ofthe US.



## t:§j~y_<;_~~an~i~~-frym Birmingham, Alabama, and a proud grandmother. Since 20GB, I've also been a member ofthe Climate Change Task Force ofthe League of Women Voters ofthe United States, the role thatbrings me here today. Thank you for this opportunityto speak- a first for me in my 71 years. Picture with me a time almost 43 years ago. I can barely see the smokestacks of Birmingham's skyline through the reddish-brown haze that signaled prosperity for our community back then. It was November 1971, and the health hazards from visible air pollution trapped over our city by stagnant air were so bad thatthe Health Department begged the smokestack industries to shut down for a few days until the air cleared and the danger to anyone who breathed was over. When industries refused, a Federal Districtjudge, for the first time in the country since the year-old Clean Air Act was passed, invoked its emergency powers and ordered over 20 ofthe largest polluters idled until the toxic emergency was over. It worked, but city businessmen complained that it was far too aggressive. The county health officer said, "Ifyou are saying thatwe should be counting bodies before we do something, Idisagree." 1 Seems to me that's where we are today with invisible carbon pollution from electric power plants- needing to act before the 'body count' gets much higher. Already we are seeing and feeling the impacts oftoo much C02- a warming planet, devastating extreme weather events, droughts and forest fires, rising sea levels, storm surges and an increasing 'body count'- in lives, health, jobs, propertyand prosperity. 2 We must setlimits on carbon pollution because the market is failing to give us the true cost ofelectric power. Itaught college economics. Amarket only works when the price correctlyincludes the full costs, like health impacts, premature death, environmentally destructive mining, and the damages caused by climate change. The price for electricity fails to include these external damages. 3 You can picture it this way: a male African elephant can weigh 6.8 metric tons. Using the air as a free waste dump, we're tossing almost 300 million elephants into the sky every year- just in the US. 4 Now see them falling back down on us, creating havoc with the systems that supportus and otherlife on our planet. The Clean Air Act has successfully addressed dangers from particulates, lead and harmful gases with benefits significantly greater than the costs, which were far lower than the disastrous costs predicted by opponents. s By releasing American ingenuity, benefits ofthis proposed rule can also exceed costs. 6In 2010, LWVUS created a Toolkit for Climate Action 7 for local Leagues to use as a resource for addressing climate disruption. Our recent update focused on adapting to changes already in the pipeline, butwe still need to dramatically reduce the amount ofC02 we're dumping into the atmosphere. This proposed rule will support the work ofour nearly 800 state and local Leagues across the country. The good news is that this rule, for example by encouraging energy efficiency, can help consumers save energy and money by cutting their electricity use and their utility bills. And the proposed Clean Power Plan gives states the flexibility to choose the most cost-effective measures to achieve the needed reductions. 8 The Department ofDefense is leading the way- notwaiting for certainties that never come. They already understand the potential 'body count.' They're managing major risks by cuttingtheir energy use and reducing their carbon footprint. 9 The LWV has advocated reductions in C02 emissions for 15 years. Most recently, delegates to our national convention in june voted overwhelmingly to support putting a price on carbon. 1o The League and our Climate Change Task Force strongly endorse this proposed rule to limit carbon pollution from power plants. As for me, personally, Iwasjolted out ofmy complacency in 2007 11 and continueto learn about the risky carbon business 12 that threatens us and all who come after us. I support this rule as a step toward a healthy future I envision for our own young and the young ofall species. Again, thankyou. Submitted by: joyce A. Lanning, Ph.D. 2102 Williamsburg Way Birmingham, AL 35223 joyce.lanning@gmail.com

1 "An old cloud ofpolluted air lifts from Birmingham's shoulders" http:

### Ifbiog.al.com/ spotnews/2011/11/a

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**ted~ai**rj.html 2 2014 National Climate Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program

http:j/nca2014.globalchange.govj 3 Muller, Nicholas Z., Robert Mendelsohn, and William Nordhaus. 2011. "Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy."American Economic Review, 101(5): 1649-75.

http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257jaer.101.5.1649 4 U.S. energy-related emissions ofcarbon dioxide (C02) by the electric power sector in 2012 were 2,039 million metric tons, which is almost 40% ofenergy-related emissions. http:j jwww.eia.gov jtoolsjfaqsjfaq.cfm?id=77&t=l1s National Center for Environmental Economics: "The Benefits and Costs ofthe Clean Air Act 1990 to 2010: EPA Report to Congress"

http://yosemite.epa.gov / eejepa/eerm.nsfjvwrepnumlookupjee0295a7opendocument 6 "Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Proposed Carbon Pollution Guidelines for Existing Power Plants and Emission Standards for Modified and Reconstructed Power Plants: Chapter 8: Comparison OfBenefits And Costs" http:jjwww.epa.gov jttn/ecasjregdatajRIAsj111dproposalRIAfinal0602.pdf 7 League ofWomen Voters ofthe US: Toolkit for Climate Action. http:/ jparticipate.lwv.orgjc/9217/pjsalsajweb/common/public/content"?content_ item_KEY=3766

8 "

... we believe that the impacts on electricity rates and bills from well-designed C02 pollution control programs will be modest in the near term, especially for lowincome customers" and "With the EPA Clean Power Plan the rate goes up but the bill goes down." EPA's Clean Power Plan: States' Toolsfor Reducing Costs and Increasing Benefits to Consumers, Analysis Group,july 2014, p. 3. 0 Department ofDefense: Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan, FY 2012 http:/ jwww.acq.osd.mil/ie/download/green_energy jdod_sustainabilityj2012/DoD %20SSPP'%20FY12-FINAL.PDF 10 "The LWVUS should support a price on carbon emissions that will increase in stages, as part ofan overall program to improve energy efficiency and to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, fast enough to avoid serious damage to the climate system." 11 The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was awardedjointlyto Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (AI) Gore 

### Jr. "for their efforts to build up and disseminategreater knowledge aboutman-madeclimate change, and to lay the foundationsfor the measures thatare needed to counteractsuch change"

http:/jwww.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peacejlaureates/2007j 12 Risky Business: The Economic Risks ofClimate Change in the United States, www.riskybusiness.org