Testimony to US EPA Federal Register New Source Performance Standards Docket ID : EPA-HQ-OAR-2011

-0660

May 24, 2012 Washington D

.C. Good afternoon

. My name is Sarah Mullkoff

. I hail from the State of Michigan where I' ve lived my entire life , and work out of the Great Lakes Office for the National Wildlife Federat ion on clean energy and climate campaigns, and also with theRE-AMP network

. NWF boasts over 170,000 supporters i n the state of Michigan , and over four million nationally

. RE

-AMP is a network of 144 organ izations and foundations partnered across eight M idwest states working on comprehensive policy to reduce ou r greenhouse gas emissions

. I**~ake** great**prid&-m~arry** a strong identity with whe re 

### I'm from- the place trademarked by precious natural resources like the cleanest freshwater beaches, pristine forests and ripe agricultural land. It' s also the home of fresh cherry pies and peach cobblers, family past time that summer has never forgotten

. As part of my outdoor heritage in enjoying this state, I contribute considerable time investing into the land , tending to the homestead style plot at my home garden ; the two community garden plots, as well as help on my boyfriend ' s four acre farm in Detroit

. In addition , I also help volunteer at our community food bank, the Greater Lansing Food Bank, which currently covers to the three counties in the center of the state : Ingham , Eaton , and Cl i ntons through food gatherer, distribution programs and various gardening programs
. One of the programs through The Garden Project, the Gleaning program, rescues excess edible produce from M ichigan State University and area farmers to distribute to a vast network of recipients

. Many of these include traditional Michigan crops , such as apples, pear, peaches cherry and other berries

. This year, ex treme weather has hit more severely than ever before, and Michigan crops are being adversely affected. While the Gleaners program I just mentioned usually collects about 250, 000- 350,000 pounds of produce from the area , this season that will be diminished to about 150, 000 due to ex

treme loss apple and other fruit trees lost this year
. That ha lf as much as they've been able to**collect. 1~** **1 --\VtO-'S~"** **<~ rQL.)P** **tt. ~tc-·•** **}'{N~.** The string of weather events including unseasonably warm weather in March switching drastically to a late April freeze has wiped out a significant sour ce of Michigan ' s entire fruit crop
. Once tress start to come out of their dormancy w ith warmer weather, wh ich was jumpstarted in March , the premature ly bloom. After several overnight freezes in late April though, their vulnerability at the young age seriously stunts the rest of their development and ability to bear fruit later in the summer
. The lack of crop will inevitably have tremendous economic impacts on 

### farmers ' business , markets, and work

. According to the US Department of Agriculture, damage of the extreme weather events are accounting for $223

.5 millions lost, with the highest declines pointing to 90% apple 90% sweet cherry loss and 95% peach loss

. The loss of fruit trees and impacts

.of bizarre weather are not just an anomaly this year. The warmer and wetter weather thi s year emphasizes that there is increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ,\._

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## a,J#ti-f'~**lf.(\.01 ~**  <:.J f"YI'( and it continues to exacerbate-:'7Cumulative impacts of climate change causing air pollution , specifically those released from coal-burning power plant smokestacks are going to continue to result in higher average temperatures and extreme weather, thus also continue to adversely affect agriculture.
The new proposed standard, the New Source Pollution Standard, takes an important step to alleviate these concerns for the future

. I st rongly support this as an important measure to ensure that power plants must reduce their carbon pollution by using sound and advanced technology

. This proven**:~ ess**  will also provide assurance that the carbon limits will not have an adverse impact on our econom 'l7\.he new carbon rule will also take a critical step to set new modernized sta ndard s on our olde st power plants generating electricity and modernize our economy
. 

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It is critical that the EPA commits to finalize and publish this carbon rule this year. Next, it is critical that the EPA also tackle emissions from existing coa l-fired plants to continue to decrease our nation's greenhouse gas emissions. These steps will help ensure that important decisions on clean air are set in place fef'decades 

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## ·**~** Earlier this spl=iflg we planted 100 fruit trees on the farm in Detroit including app l e, pear, cherry, paw paw, and chestnuts

. While we fortunately missed the blight that affected the fruit trees aforementioned , I see this orchard and their early blooms as symbolic towards the future. As long as the EPA chooses to set strong**standar~s** on air pollution today and finalize the rule this year, I can re st assured that the

# tree**grow he** **~/~ that**  we'll be able to harvest ample pecks of produce for decades to come. \"<>VL "'-**h.u-L~ a.(v.v** **17 pk** **~** Thank you for your time with hearing my comments today. I can be reached by email at mullkoffs@nwf

.org
.