EPA Carbon Pollution Hearing 

Thursday, May 241

h 2012 

Testimony- Allison Chin 

Good morning. My name is Allison Chin and I am the President of the Sierra Club's National 

Board of Directors. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today about why the Sierra 

Club strongly supports the EPA's recently proposed carbon pollution standards for new power 

plants. These standards are an important and historic step toward addressing what I believe to 

be one of the greatest and most daunting challenges of our generation- global climate 

disruption. 

Climate disruption- which scientists tell us is happening because of ever increasing amounts 

of greenhouse gases, such as carbon pollution, being emitted into our air- represents a threat 

not just to polar bears and other Arctic dwellers, but to communities and ecosystems 

nationwide. Scientists and doctors warn us that as the Earth warms, unhealthy levels of ozone 

pollution, or smog, will increase and become more widespread. Higher smog levels will mean 

more cases of respiratory illnesses, such as childhood asthma and lung disease. Already, 

according to the American Lung Association, !54 million Americans- roughly half our 

country! -suffer from air pollution levels that are unsafe. Holding dirty plants accountable for 

the carbon pollution they emit into our communities means fewer sick children and suffering 

loved ones, while also preserving for future generations the wild places and biodiversity that 

make our country great. By taking this step to address industrial carbon pollution from power 

plants, the Administration is setting the stage for a shift in how we power our society. If we 

are to grow our economy and shift into a 21st century renewable model for energy production. 

we must modernize our infrastructure and diversifY our sources. Many states are already 

leading the charge to transition to clean energy. For example, according to the American 

Wind Energy Association. Iowa and North Dakota now receive 20% of their energy from 

wind power and 38 states have utility scale wind installations. 

As we think about what kind of world we want to live in and leave for future generations, and 

what policies and laws we will enact regarding the future of energy production. it would seem 

like a no-brainer that we would want to consistently strive for more efficiency and less waste, 

a transition to cleaner fuels that do not pollute our air and sully our water, and incentivize 

industry modernization and innovation to provide good, clean jobs for the next generation of 

workers. Yet, unfortunately, what we have seen is a handful of corporate polluters and their 

well-funded lobbyists on the Hill attempt to speak for the entire energy community in 

opposing these commonsense steps forward on grounds no firmer than that they simply do not 

wish to clean up their pollution, to be held accountable for their emissions and damages 

inflicted on the communities they serve. Americans see right through these attempts to paint 

the EPA as the boogeyman, and poll after poll demonstrates they support 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 backward-thinking, 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, the Sierra Club strongly supports EPA's efforts to clean up dangerous carbon pollution 

and we strongly support this rule. Thank you.