Testimony for EPA Carbon Hearing. March 24,2012. Chicago,IL. 

Name: Sandy Carter 

Organization: Chicago Youth Climate Coalition 

Contact: carters989@gmail.com 

I am a third year undergraduate at the University of Chicago and an environmental activist. I 

have spent the past two years fighting to change the way society treats the environment in an 

attempt to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change the world is beginning to face. While 

I want my government to do more, I am excited that the EPA is looking towards issues of 

carbon, and I support this proposed rule to limit carbon emissions. 

As an individual, a student, and as a member of the next generation, I am especially concerned 

about the future of humanity on this planet. Carbon dioxide emissions have been shown to be 

linked to climate change, and as many of you know, the potential impacts of global warming are 

truly frightening. 

I grew up on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and have seen first hand the effects 

of fossil fuels and carbon emissions. In 2003, a tropical storm struck my community and flooded 

my neighborhood. I realize that the connection between carbon emissions, climate change, and 

weather patterns is often doubted and remains under debate, but watching the flood waters rise 

was very real. And it was real when my neighbors, many of whom had lived in this region for 

decades and whose families' had called the Chesapeake home for generations, explained that no 

storm in the past fifty years had caused this amount of damage. While my neighborhood 

recovered, this event and much larger disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, throw into 

focus the direction our world is headed if we don't act. 

More carbon in our atmosphere means more intense storms. It means an increase in coastal 

flooding. It means the oceans will take back the land. It means my mother's home will be under 

water in fifty years. It means our snow will melt and our rivers will run dry. It means water and 

food shortages. It means no future for the beautiful planet I call home and it means no future for 

my generation. 

There are many days when I have my doubts about changing this future. I doubt that we can do 

anything about climate change, and that the social, economic, and political atmosphere will ever 

allow for the development of a more sustainable society. But the coming closure of the two coal 

plants in this city which 1 now call home gives me some reason to hope. And this rule gives me 

more hope. 

The new rule will limit the amount of carbon that new power plants can emit to I 000 pounds per 

megawatt hour. This is a start to moving our society off of fossil fuels. Yet, I still have feelings 

of doubt. We need to do more. We need to stop building coal plants. Period. We need to stop 

building natural gas plants. We need real climate rules. We need leaders, both nationally and 

internationally, willing to fight for this planet. We need to hold our corporations accountable. We 

need to realize that we cannot as a country and a world keep waiting. And we need the EPA to 

institute this proposed rule and then fight for an even stronger rule.