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• July 31, 2014 Pittsburgh, PA

Dear President Obama and EPA, In the Clean Power Plan, your proposal will reduce C02 emissions on a national basis (rolled up estimates of the impact of state standards) 26% below 2005 by 2020 and 30% by 2030. You have set modest and achievable targets which are not nearly enough according to the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC concludes that global emissions have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change. Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the three previous decades. Anthropogenic GHG emissions grew at an average annual rate of 2.2% over 2000-2010, compared with a growth rate of 1.3% per year over the period of 1970-2000. C02 emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes contributed 65% of global GHG emissions in 2010.

" Climate policies in line with the two degrees Celsius goal need to aim for substantial emission reductions," said Ottmar Edenhofer, a Co-Chair of Working Group 111. "There is a clear message from science: To avoid dangerous interference with the climate system, we need to move away from business as usual."

Scenarios developed by the IPCC suggest that to have a likely chance of limiting the increase in global mean temperature to 2 degrees Celsius, means lowering global GHG emissions by 40 to 70% compared with 2010 by mid Century and to near -zero by the end of this century. Considering the growing GHG emission trends documented in the report, one can have doubts if these targets are realistic. However, daunting this may seem, we really do not have a choice. The EPA and President Obama have to muster the political will to hold carbon emitters feet to the fire- Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Philips, and Peabody Energy. Stop trying to "fool Mother Nature." Earrings on a pig are just that.

We ask that you: 1) Phase out dirty coal fired power plants- any further use of coal, no matter how efficient, will continue to emit significant carbom. 2) Reject the reliance on frack gas- scientists have found extensive leakage of methane from our entire gas infrastructure, (from the frack wells to the pipes entering homes). Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry represents a growing proportion of total green house gases (GHG). In the US their emissions expanded from 10% of total GHGs in 2009 to 37% today. Frack Gas moves us in the v.Tong direction. Fracking causes air pollution and water contamination. (i.e. counties surrounding Pittsburgh). Fracking and its associated waste disposal can and do cause earthquakes. 3) Remove nuclear subsidies from the carbon rules- Nuclear energy is not a clean or renewable energy. We oppose indefinite ratepayer subsidies to support aging, dangerous,

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• expensive nuclear power plants. We can not afford to prop up 6% of the nuclear plants while at the same time investing heavily in renewable energy, capacity and energy efficiency. The storage of nuclear wastes is an ongoing expense. The nuclear industry has been massively subsidized by tax dollars since its inception, it is time to cut the cord, let the markets decide. In particular we oppose:

-- supporting the building of new nuclear reactors- costing billions of dollars and taking years to bring online. -the claims that nuclear power is reliable

- ignoring shut downs due to warm water temperatures, flooding, and extreme weather events, all of which will worsen as the climate warms. -the claims that nuclear power is renewable- fossil fuels are used for uranium mining, milling, processing. Huge amounts of energy/water will be needed to isolate nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years. Water is needed for human and agricultural use, and will be in shorter supply in the drought conditions created by climate change. 4) Prioritize and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency- please revise your Plan to include real incentives to switch to renewable s. Specifically we ask that you move away from recommending cap and trade programs that

are often a vehicle for polluters to avoid cutting their emissions, and which have failed in the markets in the EU. Instead assist the states in the deployment of a carbon tax, (probably best as a regional carbon tax or fee), with rebates back to the consumer to help defray the costs of the rapid transition to renewable energy. A carbon tax is one of the most effective market mechanisms to drive the deployment of new renewable energy. such as Wind and Solar.

The good news is that renewable energy and energy efficiency investments create far
more jobs per dollar spent than fossil fuels-- including natural gas. Specifically, cleanenergy investment generates more than 3 times the number of jobs as does spending the
same amount of money in the fossil fuel sectors. And the clean energy sector is growing at a rate nearly double the growth rate of the overall economy.

We agree with the goals of the "Solutions Project" which has outlined how each state could get to 100% renewable energy by 2050, with the right optimization of Wind, Solar, Hydro and other renewable energy, http://thesolutionsproject.org/. In Illinois their data reveals that not only would we benefit from the clean, green energy, but that 286,200 long term renewable energy jobs would be created. We need those green jobs! Rewrite the Clean Power Plan. Take the warnings of the climate scientists seriously throwing off the politics of the carbon polluters. Develop a Plan that actually impacts climate change, thus helping to mitigate the serious danger that humanity is facing. Sincerely 

# J. r,...., 

## i-,
11 ·**B..J.e~** Stephanie Bilenko**-~"""""' ~"YI.Ut..-l**  627 Bamsdale LaGrange Park, IL 60526-5703• **Cumulati~e** green,1ause gases emitted,

in millions

of

tons, from

1854

to **20~0** so 1o·Ooa **lQ,Q~** lo·Ooo lo·Ooa **·0~** Percent of greenhouse gases er:1ined Revenue

in

b:lllans

of

dollars, from

1854

ta

2010 • DIRTY DOZEN

Most people know that China and the United States are the

world's top two carbon-producing nations. But researcher

Richard Heede oftheCiimateAccountabllltylnstitute

in

Colorado

dug deeper and found that 90 companies

around the world have caused nearly two-thirds

of

all global greenhouse

gas emissions since the

beginning

of the Industrial Age. {Half of those

emissions were produced in the last 25 years or so.) All

are

oil, gas, or coal producers, except for seven cement man-

ufacturers. The list, reported in the journal Climatic Change,

can help activists hold individual carbon emitters' feet to

the fire. There are thousands of oil, gas, and coal facilities

in the world, Heede told the Guardian, "but the decision

makers-the CEOs, or the ministers of coal and oil-they

could all fit on a Greyhound bus or two." -Reed McManus

**SOVhC~S'** GREENHOUSE GAS FIGURES FROM 'TRACING **ANTH~OPoGfNIC** CARBON ()IOXIDF ANO METHANE **~MI~SiO/oJS** TO FOSSIL FUEl AND CEMENT PRODUCERS, 1854-2010," IN CLIMATIC CHANGE, JANUARY 2014. REVENUE FIGURES

**FO~** 2013 PEH FORTUNE GLOBAL SD<I, EXCEPT SAUDI AhAMCD (YA HOD I fiNANCE, 2ll12). NATIONAL IRANIA/oJ OIL (ANNUAL REPORT. 2012). AND COI\L INDII\ (BLOOMBERG BUSIH!SSWEEK} .

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• Pennsylvania and Fracking I 

## Earthjustice Page 1 of7



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# PENNSYLVANIA AND FRACKING

Frack Target: Marcellus Shale

Gas drilling in Pennsylvania has skyrocketed in recent years. And along with the gas rush have come disastrous industrial accidents and poisoned drinking water-earning the state a reputation in the region for gas development gone wrong. Communities fighting to keep their water and air clean and state forests intact have their work cut out for them: Governor Tom Corbett accepted nearly $1 million from oil and gas companies during his political campaigns and since assuming office in 2011, promptly began repaying his benefactors by cutting down on environmental enforcement and oversight of gas drilling activities

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### Unfracktured Communities- Fighting Fracking: When Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett-the recipient of nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry-signed a pro-tracking, anti-community law known as Act 13 in 2012, communities fought back.

A group of seven municipalities, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and several citizens sued to overturn a portion of the law that sought to strip communities of their right to use local zoning laws to limit oil and gas development and associated industry infrastructure. In a landmark 2013 court victory, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court sided with the municipalities, handing the oil and gas industry a big defeat.



### Fraccidents: Below is a map of some of the high profile incidents ("fraccidents") related to the country's gas drilling boom that have already occurred in and around Pennsylvania. Click on any fraccident to learn more

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## http:/ 

## I earth justice. org/ features/ pennsy 1 vania -and- fracking 

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