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Testimony Before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Re: Proposed Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for New Electric Generating Units 

Docket No. EPA-HQ-2011-0660 

Nathan Willcox, Federal Global Warming Program Director, Environment America 

May 24, 2012 

Washington, D.C. 

Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the critically important 

issue of carbon pollution from power plants. My name is Nathan Willcox, and I direct 

Environment America's federal global warming program. Environment America is a federation 

of 29 state-based environmental organizations, working to protect America's air, water and 

open spaces. 

On behalf of Environment America's citizen members nationwide, I commend EPA for its 

proposed carbon pollution standards for new power plants, and urge the agency to move 

forward with finalizing these much-needed standards this year. Doing so will help to ensure 

that we protect our health, our environment and our planet for future generations. 

The science is clear that global warming is happening, and that it is being fueled by carbon 

pollution from human activities. Already March 2012 was the hottest March on record for the 

continental U.S., 2010 tied for the hottest year, and the decade of 2001-2010 was the hottest 

10-year period on record. Globally, April 2012 marked the 326'h consecutive month that the 

global average temperature was above its 20'h century normal. 

The evidence that humans are warming the globe is only strengthening; in the words of a 

recent report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences: "Some scientific conclusions or 

theories have been so thoroughly examined and tested, and supported by so many 

independent observations and results, that their likelihood of subsequently being found to be 

wrong is vanishingly smaii. .. This is the case for the conclusion that the Earth system is warming 

and that much ofthis warming is very likely due to human activities." 

The science is also clear that left unchecked, global warming will negatively impact our health, 

our safety, and our environment in a number of ways. Numerous studies by the Environment 

America Research & Policy Center and others have documented the increase in extreme 

weather that many areas of the country have already seen in recent decades, and documented 

the science showing how global warming will likely bring even more extreme weather in the 

future. Other studies have shown how global warming will lead to the loss of native plant and 

animal species, as well as drought and a dangerous rise in sea level. 

But the potential damage to our health from global warming is key, specifically with relation to 

ozone "smog" pollution. This is the pollution that hangs over our cities on many of the hottest 

summer days, triggering asthma attacks and a number of other respiratory problems for even 

healthy individuals. Since heat is a key ingredient in the formation of smog, scientists predict 

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that we'll see even more smog in a warming world. In fact, a recent study by the Union of 

Concerned Scientists predicts that higher levels of ground-level ozone due to rising 

temperatures could lead to 2.8 million more asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, 

leading to 900,000 additional missed days of school. That's bad news for all of us, but 

especially the millions of children, adults and seniors who suffer from asthma and other 

respiratory problems. And this is to say nothing of global warming's impact on our health 

because of more frequent and more intense heat waves, and the spread of tropical diseases. 

We've known for years that power plants are the largest single source of the carbon pollution 

fueling the problem. Yet for decades these power plants have been allowed to spew unlimited 

amounts of carbon pollution into our air, with the exception of power plants in the areas of the 

country that have enacted state and regional caps on carbon pollution. In order to achieve the 

reductions in carbon pollution that scientists say are necessary to avoid the worst 

consequences of global warming, we need to reverse this trend and start holding power plants 

accountable for their carbon pollution. 

That is why EPA's proposed carbon pollution standards for new power plants are so important. 

Until we rein in the largest emitters of carbon pollution-most notably power plants-we 

cannot possibly hope to achieve the reductions in carbon pollution called for by scientists. 

Environment America therefore wholeheartedly supports EPA's proposed carbon pollution 

standards for new power plants, and we also urge the EPA to move ahead with carbon pollution 

standards for existing power plants. Curbing pollution from potential new power plants is 

critical, but even more critical is curbing pollution from plants that are polluting today. 

The public support for the standards is strong, and it is growing. Already, Environment America 

and our state affiliates throughout the country have collected more than 180,000 public 

comments in support of EPA moving ahead with carbon pollution standards for new and 

existing power plants. The broader nationwide network of environmental and public health 

groups working on this issue has gathered over 1 million supportive public comments. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today, and for the Agency's work in developing 

these important standards to protect our health and our environment. 

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