The Evangelical Environmental Network 

24 East Franklin Street 

New Freedom, PA 17349 

202-903-0209 

support@creationcare.org 

EVANGELICAL 

August 1, 2014 

ENVIRONMENTAL 

N ETWORK 

Testimony of The Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox 

Clean Power Plan Public Hearing 

"See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard 

all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are 

untrue to your God." Joshua 24:17 

Good Morning, 

I am the Rev. Mitchell Hescox, President/C.E.O. of the Evangelical Environmental Network, a 

native and resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, an evangelical pro-life Christian, 

and life-long registered Republican. I am here in support of the Environmental Protection 

Agency's (EPA's) purposed Clean Power Plan and to offer my unique perspective not only as an 

evangelical Christian but as someone who spent eighteen (18) years as a local church pastor, 

fourteen years as a professional in the coal and power industries, and who is also a father and 

grandfather. 

Today marks the opportunity for a new day. We have a choice to make: will we as citizens of 

the United States of America defend the lives and health of our children and provide them the 

opportunity for new clean energy economy, or we will burden them not only with a national 

monetary debt but the even more harmful burden of an increasing climate changed world? 

Will we stop the special favors that the coal industry has enjoyed and allow the real cost of coal 

to affect our energy decisions? 

With four (4) children and five (5) grandchildren, I have a considerable interest in their future 

and the future for all God's children. My kids have never experienced a June below the 20th 

century average June temperature, and with June 2014 as the hottest June in history and 

marking the 352nd month above the 20th century average, my grandchildren already live in a 

changed world. The future is upon us, and the question remains, will we cling to a threatening 

past or stretch for a new future? 

There are many good people testifying today that also are concerned for their children. They 

fear the loss of jobs and a way of life. At the same time, we must be concerned for coal miners 

and power plant workers and find ways to address their fears. Circa 1900 there were similar 
Hescox, Clean Power Plan Testimony: August 1, 2014 

fears as the third largest industry in terms of workers and dollars, the horse industry, faced a 

similar situation from the quickly developing automobile industry. But living in a country whose 

economy is market based means we must allow the markets to work to create new 

opportunities and brighter futures, and not be hindered by political roadblocks from special 

interests. 

For years, we have subsidized the cost of coal generated electricity in the brains, lungs, and 

bodies of our children and privatized the profits. Asthma, cancers, autism, birth defects, and 

brain damage have a direct link to the use of fossil fuels and petrochemicals. Even today, 

according to the American Lung Association 2014 State of the Air Report, Pittsburgh's air still 

flunks, and over 26,000 children live asthma-impeded lives — with climate change making smog 

worse. These threats to our children make caring for God's creation a matter of life and 

Christian discipleship. 

The proposed Clean Power Plan begins a market correction that is long overdue. Some wish us 

to believe that coal provides cheap electricity. But according to several studies, when you add 

in the cost to our health in medical bills, lost lives, property damage and the like, coal electricity 

is at least triple what you pay at the meter. Coals appears cheap, but each of us pays the price 

in our children's health, insurance premiums, fouled air, and polluted water. 

Providing pure water and clean air shouldn't be a hindrance to our economy, jobs, and future. 

In fact, having a fruitful creation enhances existing industries, new industries, the attractiveness 

of communities, and satisfied employees. If Pennsylvania, for example, takes advantage of the 

standard's flexibility, there will be an equal amount of employment created in the natural gas 

industry as lost from fuel switching.' More importantly, 13,000 new jobs will be created by 2020 

based on Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) Act of 2004. And if 

Pennsylvania's implementation plan for the Clean Power Plan returns the Commonwealth to its 

former leadership position, renewable energy jobs in solar and wind will increase significantly." 

Job creation is vital, but defending life remains paramount, and the proposed Clean Power Plan 

accomplishes significant pollution reduction in both carbon and additional co-pollutants, 

including particulates, SO2, and NOx. According to a recent Syracuse University and Harvard 

medical study, Pittsburgh and the entire Ohio River Valley will benefit with the greatest 

improvements in air quality from EPA's Clean Power Plan." This is something to celebrate; and 

with cleaner air, our out of pockets expenses will decline and so will our electric bill. The 

Analysis Group's recent report on EPA's new standard supports EPA own analysis that electric 

rates might increase slightly in the short term but will decline overall." 

The Clean Power Plan is a key aspect of a needed comprehensive national effort to mitigate and 

prepare for climate change's threats to the United States. The Clean Power Plan makes 

economic sense as well. Harvard's Robert Stavins wrote recently: 
Hescox, Clean Power Plan Testimony: August 1, 2014 

The combined U.S.-only estimates of annual climate impacts of CO2 ($3 billion) and 

health impacts of correlated pollutants ($45 billion) greatly exceed the estimated 

regulatory compliance costs of $9 billion/year, for positive net benefits amounting to 

$39 billion/year in 2030.v 

His analysis focusing on U.S. benefits states what is obvious to many of our nation's businesses. 

Act now before it's too late and the costs skyrocket."' Delaying action simply costs more, but 

procrastinating also removes the great opportunity in creating a new clean energy economy. 

Businesses like Caterpillar, Dow Chemical, General Electric, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, 

Sprint, and Walmart all have climate action plans. They have a clear vision of both the costs of 

climate change and the vision for the future." 

All God's children deserve a future where they can breathe freely, think clearly, and pursue 

their dreams for a brighter America and an entire world not threatened from the food 

insecurity, water scarcity, foul air, extreme weather, forced migration, and sea-level rise. We 

can do nothing less as a nation. 

Addressing carbon pollution from the largest single polluter, the power industry, is an essential 

step in facing climate change's threat and embracing the opportunity of a new future. But it is 

one of many steps. We need a comprehensive plan to: 

• Police methane leaks from production, distribution, and transportation of natural gas; 

• Provide coordination in preparing for the climate impacts already upon us; 

• Unify research efforts to set our American creativity and ingenuity free to be the world 

leader in clean energy design and manufacturing; 

• Set reasonable standards and accountability for coastal development; 

• Protect American workers from those nations who fail to establish their own climate 

plans. 

• Focus our assistance to the majority world in terms of renewable, locally operated 

electricity. 

The Clean Power Plan, once promulgated, will be the most important action to date in 

overcoming climate change. It shows our nation's resolve in doing the right thing, the moral 

action. It returns The United States to the leadership position and sets the standard for a 

worldwide clean energy economy. This provides the signal the market needs to spur 

development and action. It removes the burden of cost from our children's health and begins 

to establish true costs for electric generation. 

The simplest and most enforceable action to reduce carbon pollution would include a carbon 

pollution fee. This would simplify state implementation and be the most accountable direct 

market mechanism to price carbon. As such, we ask the EPA to include explicit language in the 

final standard assuring states the option for a carbon tax/pollution fee. 
Hescox, Clean Power Plan Testimony: August 1, 2014 

Now is the time to act. We are quickly approaching the deadline to keep God's marvelous 

creation below the two (2) degree Celsius maximum urged by experts and agreed to by the 

United States in the international climate negotiations. While some understand climate action 

as political, from my evangelical Christian faith it's a scriptural and moral imperative. In the 

opening of this testimony, I quoted a portion of a longer biblical passage. The patriarch Joshua 

calls the nation together and commits to a plan to follow God and work together for the 

betterment of all. He even states the rocks will act as witness. Creation already witnesses our 

changed and changing climate. Looking out your kitchen window and going for a walk it is easy 

to see the changes. 

Let's join together as Christians, as people of all faiths, as Republicans, Democrats, and 

Independents, and become Americans, Americans working together to solve the great moral 

challenge of our time and to begin the greatest energy and economic revolution. Then maybe 

our kids and grandkids will commend us for helping them reach their American Dream, instead 

of a nightmare. 

http://csis.org/event/remaking-american-power 

" http://cleanenergywins.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CleanEnergyWins_PolicyRoadmap.pdf 

Driscoll, C.T, Buonocore, J., Reid, S., Fakhraei, H, and Lambert, K.F. 2014. Co-benefits of Carbon Standards Part 1: 

Air Pollution Changes under Different 111d Options for Existing Power Plants. Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 

and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. A report of the Science Policy Exchange. 34 pp. 

EPA's Clean Power Plan: States' Tools for Reducing Costs and Increasing Benefits to Consumers 

Analysis Group -Paul Hibbard, Andrea Okie, Susan Tierney, July 2014 

http://www.analysisgroup.com/uploadedFiles/Publishing/Articles/Analysis_Group_EPA_Clean_Power_Plan_Repor 

t.pdf 

http://www.robertstavinsblog.org/2014/06/19/what-are-the-benefits-and-costs-of-epas-proposed-co2- 

regulation/ 

v'http://riskybusiness.org/uploads/files/RiskyBusiness_Report_WEB_7_22_14.pdf 

http://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/power-forward-2.0-how-american-companies-are-setting-cleanenergy-targets-and-capturing-greater-business-value