Peter Bahouth 

US Climate Action Network 

Testimony at EPA Public Hearing in Washington, DC 

Proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants 

Docket ID No. EPA- HQ- OAR- 201 1 -0660 

May 24,20 12 

This testimony is from Peter Bahouth, Executive Director of the US Climate Action 

Network. I am Lara Levison, Program Director and Domestic Policy Director USCAN, 

and I'm presenting the testimony on Mr. Bahouth's behalf. 

I am here to express the support ofUSCAN and its member groups for the proposed 

Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants. This proposed rule takes an important 

step forward at the federal level to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions that are 

contributing significantly to global climate change. 

The US Climate Action Network is the largest US network of organizations focused on 

climate change, with over 85 member groups. Our purpose is to support and help 

coordinate these organizations' efforts towards effective, equitable, and sustainable 

strategies to reduce carbon pollution and promote a clean energy future at all levels of the 

debate: local, state, federal and international. 

USCAN is also an affiliate of the Climate Action Network (CAN-International), a 

worldwide network of more than 700 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in more 

than 90 countries working to promote government, private sector and individual action to 

limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. 

USCAN's members include a wide range of non-profit organizations whose individual 

members represent a broad spectrum of Americans. Many of our member groups focus 

on climate change specifically, or environmental issues more broadly; these include state, 

regional, national, and global organizations. 

Because climate change will affect- and is already affecting- so many aspects of 

society, organizations representing many interests and constituencies belong to USCAN's 

network as well, including groups focused on the following topics: health, civil rights, 

faith, business, animal welfare, international development, energy efficiency, affordable 

energy, renewable energy, environmental justice, think tank research, green jobs, 

sportsmen and anglers, wildlife, sustainable transportation, and science. A list of 

USCAN's members is included at the end of this testimony. 

The proposed Carbon Pollution Standard is relevant to Americans' day-to-day concerns 

about the health of our families and the state of the economy. Limiting industrial carbon 

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www.usclimatenetwork.org 
pollution from new power plants is critical to protecting the health of our children and 

families. Doctors, nurses, scientists, and other experts note that carbon pollution is 

dangerous for children because rising temperatures caused by climate change is likely to 

make smog pollution worse, which will trigger asthma attacks and permanently damage 

children's lungs. Seniors are also particularly susceptible to the dangers of air pollution. 

Regarding the economy, cleaning up carbon pollution will spark innovation in clean 

technologies and create Americanjobs to manufacture, install, and operate these 

technologies. According to a February 2012 report by the Economic Policy Institute, 

modernizing coal and industrial power plants will create jobs. A March 2012 study by the 

Department of Labor estimated that the transition to cleaner energy and technology has 

already created 3.1 million jobs, and as we move from old power plants to new ones that 

rely on clean technology, we will create even more jobs. 

Again, the proposed carbon pollution rule is important in relation to topics that 

Americans think about every day and recognize as relevant to our daily lives, namely the 

health of our families and the strength of the US economy. 

The rule is also critically important from a longer-term perspective. USCAN's members 

recognize that climate change is already reshaping lives and our planet in myriad ways, 

and that we must seize the opportunities we have now to reduce carbon pollution and 

slow down global warming. 

At the international climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, The 

"Copenhagen Accord" that resulted from the international climate conference in 

December 2009 recognized that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should be stabilized 

at a level that would keep the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius to 

prevent dangerous changes to the climate. 

Just last week, the chief economist for the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, 

warned that it is becoming increasingly unlikely that we will be able to keep the increase 

in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius in this century. "What I see now with 

existing investments for plants under construction ... we are seeing the door for a 2 degree 

Celsius target about to be closed and closed forever," said the International Energy 

Agency's Dr. Birol. "This door is getting slimmer and slimmer in terms of physical and 

economic possibility." According to the lEA, this is because such a large amount of 

energy-related greenhouse gas emissions is already locked in by existing power plants, 

factories, buildings, and other infrastructure. 

1 

The evidence of climate change is becoming harder to ignore, as we witness unusual 

bouts of extreme weather and record warm temperatures. The past 12 months, from May 

2011 to April2012, was the warmest 12-month period on record in the contiguous United 

States since record keeping began. Those 12 months also included the second hottest 

1 International Energy Agency press release, "The world is locking itself into an unsustainable energy 

future which would have far-reaching consequences, lEA warns in its latest World Energy Outlook," 

London, November 9, 201 2. 
summer, the fourth hottest winter, and the hottest March? 

And Americans are noticing. They are making the connection between extreme weather 

and climate change. According to a March 2012 po11,

3 82 percent of Americans report 

that they were affected by one or more extreme weather event or disaster in the last year. 

In response to the statement, "global warming is affecting the weather in the US," 70 

percent agreed strongly or somewhat. 

We musl move forward at the local, state, national, and international levels to slow down 

climate change. The carbon pollution rule for new power plants is a step in the right 

direction at the national level for the US. Some ofUSCAN's groups see it as a significant 

step; others see it as a very insufficient step, but all agree that it is a step forward, and that 

EPA should move swiftly to cover existing power plants as well. 

Thus far, more than one million comments have been submitted to EPA in support of the 

proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants. Thank you for the 

opportunity for the US Climate Action Network to join our voice with citizens around the 

country in support of curbing carbon pollution to protect public health, create clean and 

green jobs, and slow down dangerous climate change. 

USCAN Member Organizations 

3SO.org 

ActionAid USA 

Alliance for Affordable Energy 

Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) 

Avaaz 

CARE USA 

Center for Biological Diversity 

Center for Clean Air Policy 

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) 

Ceres 

Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) 

Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (Penn Future) 

Clean Air-Cool Planet 

Clean Water Action 

Climate Protection Campaign 

Climate Solutions 

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) 

Conservation International 

2 National Ocean ic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center, "State of the Climate 

National Overview, April 20 12," hJ!p://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/20 12/4. 3 Yale and George Mason University 
Conservation Law Foundation 

EarthDay Network 

Earth justice 

Ecoequity 

Education for Global Warming Solutions 

Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment * 

Energy Action Coalition 

Environment Action Association 

Environment America 

Environment Northeast (ENE) 

Environmental & Energy Study Institute (EESI) 

Environmental Defense Fund 

Environmental Investigation Agency 

Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) 

FHI360 

Fresh Energy 

Friends Committee on National Legislation 

Friends of the Earth (FoE) 

Georgetown Climate Center * 

Green For All 

Green peace 

Humane Society International (HSI) 

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability 

InterAction 

International Environmental Law Project (IELP) at Lewis and Clark Law School * 

International Forum on Globalization 

International Rivers 

IPS/Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (SEEN) 

Kyoto USA 

League of Conservation Voters 

Massachusetts Climate Action Network 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 

National Audubon Society 

National Wildlife Federation (NWF) 

Natural Resources Defense Council 

North Carolina Conservation Network 

Oil Change International 

Oregon Environmental Council 

Oxfam America 

Pace Energy and Climate Center 

Pacific Environment 

Pew Environment Group 

Physicians for Social Responsibility 
Population Action International 

Presbyterian Church USA 

Rainforest Action Network 

Refugees International 

Sierra Club 

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) 

Sustain US 

The Climate Reality Project 

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies 

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) 

The Regeneration Project I Interfaith Power & Light 

The Resource Innovation Group (TRIG) 

The Wilderness Society 

Transportation for America 

U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) 

Union of Concerned Scientists 

Voices for Progress 

WEDO 

Will Steger Foundation 

Woods Hole Research Center 

World Resources Institute (WRI) * 

World Wildlife Fund 

Worldwatch Institute