My name is Craig Stine. I live in Greenville, South Carolina. I am a customer of Duke Power at 

my primary residence and of Blue Ridge Electric at a cabin I co-own. 

I speak as concerned citizen and as a parent of two young-adult children. 

I am here because I strongly support the Clean Power Plan. 

I am here because particulate pollution from coal-fired power plants damages the health of 

millions of Americans and leads to premature deaths; because the combustion of coal emits 

pollutants that trigger asthma attacks and harm normal lung development; 1 because the Clean 

Power Plan is projected to reduce these pollutants by over 25 percent. 2 I am here because I 

want my children and grandchildren to live in a· world with healthier air to breathe. 

I am here because it is long past due for our country to take seriously the costly consequences 

of climate change and that of carbon emissions from power plants. The fifth, and latest report, 

from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change adds to the overwhelming scientific 

evidence that burning fossil fuels is causing climate change with carbon dioxide accounting for 

nearly three-fourths of global greenhouse gas emissions3 In the United States carbon dioxide 

makes up 84% of all greenhouse gas emissions. And the biggest source of carbon emissions in 

the U.S.? Fossil fuel-fired power plants, which contribute one-third of total greenhouse gas 

emissions. 4 

1 
I am here because of what the consequences of climate change mean for my children and 

grandchildren. 

Already we see the more intense and severe droughts, wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes. 

According to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, America's wildfire season lasts two months 

longer and burns up twice as much land than it did 40 years ago because of the hotter, drier 

conditions produced by climate change. 5 

In 2012 climate-related droughts, super storms, hurricanes, blizzards, heat waves, and wildfires 

killed 349 people and caused an estimated $140 billion in damages. The cost to the federal 

government was nearly $100 billion- more than the government spent on either education or 

transportation- and about $1,100 per American taxpayer. 6 

Due to climate change, sea levels are rising faster. Over the last 20 years, the average annual 

increase in relative sea level has been twice what it was for the previous 90 years. Our Atlantic 

and Gulf coasts are among the areas seeing the highest increases. My daughter lives in 

Charleston, South Carolina. In just 50 years the relative sea level along the South Carolina coast 

has risen about 6 inches7 It is estimated that within 40 years the South Carolina coast is likely 

to see extreme floods more than 4 feet above high tide resulting in billions of dollars in 

damage. 8 

2 
I am here because the Clean Power Plan is a reasonable, cost-effective way to reduce carbon 

emissions. States have flexibility in meeting their individualized targets- targets based on 

each state's potential for alternative energy production and energy efficiency measures. 

And states have shown that they can rapidly reduce carbon emissions. In a recent submission 

to the EPA, fifteen states laid out how they each reduced carbon pollution from the electricity 

sector by 20 percent in just six years (2005 to 2011) with some states achieving carbon 

reductions in the range of 30 to 46 percent 9 

I am here because we have a choice. We can do nothing and just continue to spend taxpayer 

dollars on band-aids to clean up and rebuild communities devastated by the loss of lives, homes 

and businesses from increasingly severe weather events and rising sea levels: costs that will 

continue to increase topping an estimated $500 billion per year by 2050. 10 I am here because I 

want to help prevent this damage, save lives, save taxpayer dollars and reduce this burden for 

my children and future generations. 

I am here because, as a nation, we can choose to spend our money wisely to make things 

better. The Clean Power Plan will lead to increased spending in renewable, cleaner and more 

efficient energy technologies- investments that, over the long term, will reduce the 

devastating and costly impact of greenhouse gas emissions- investments that will benefit my 

children and future generations through higher economic growth and improved health. 

3 
I am, according to a Washington Post Poll, among the more than two-thirds of Americans who 

support carbon pollution limits on power plants. 11 I support the Clean Power Plan because I do 

not want to further endanger and burden my children, grandchildren and future generations 

through inaction. Instead I hope we will seize this opportunity to improve their lives by fully 

implementing the Clean Power Plan. 

Thank you. 

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Footnotes 

1. http://www.momscleanairforce.org/focus-on-coal/. 

2. "Fact Sheet: Clean Power Plan Benefits, Why We Need a Cleaner, More Efficient Power 

Sector," U.S. EPA, http://www2.epa .gov I carbon-poll ution-sta nda rds/fact -sheet -cleanpower-plan-benefits. 

3. "Fifth Time is the Charm: The Definitive Word on Climate Science," Dan Lashof's Blog, 

Switchboard, Natural Resources Defense Council Staff blog, posted September 27, 2013. 

4. "Fact Sheet, Clean Power Plan, By the Numbers, Cutting Carbon Pollution from Power 

Plants," U.S. EPA, http:/ /www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/fact-sheet-cleanpower-plan; "U.S. EPA, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011," 

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html; "Fact Sheet: 

Clean Power Plan Benefits, Why We Need a Cleaner, More Efficient Power Sector," U.S. 

EPA, http:/ /www2 .epa .gov I carbon-poll ution-sta nda rds/fact -sheet -clea n-powe r-pla nbenefits. 

5. http://www. thegua rd ian .com/world/2013/j u n/04/ climate-change-a me rica-wi ldfi re-seaso n, 

http://www.momscleanairforce.org/extreme-weather-facts/. 

6. http://www. n rd c.o rg/glo ba lwa rmi ng/taxpaye r-ei imate-costs. asp; 

http://www. n rdc.o rg/glo ba lwa rmi ng/ cl imate-d isru ption-tax. asp. 

7. http://www .epa.gov I eli matecha nge/scien ce/i nd icators/ oceans/sea-level. html. 

8. "Report: High seas risk extreme floods in SC," The Greenville News, July 22, 2014. 

9. Letter to Gena McCarthy, EPA, December 16, 2013, from a group of state environmental 

agency leaders, energy agency leaders, and public utility commissioners from 15 states. 

10. http://www. n rd c.org/globa lwa rm i ng/files/CI imateD isruption Tax. pdf. 

11. "What the EPA's Clean Power Plan Looks Like in Practice," Eric Pooley, HBR Blog Network, 

June 5, 2014, http:!/blogs.hbr.org/2014/06/what-the-epas-clean-power-plan-looks-like-inpractice/. 

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