To: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy 2 Schiller Ave. Narberth, PA, 19072

Testimony for EPA hearings on EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan
My testimony, which I am submitting today, is in enthusiastic support for the EPA's Clean PowerPlan. I am a family physicianpracticing in Delaware County, PA. I've been concerned about climate change ever since Barry Commoner made "the greenhouse effect" a talking point in his 1979 presidential campaign. At the time, I was in medical school at Tufts, in Boston.Sincethat time, the decades have marked successful initiatives to curtail pollution from powerplants, from acid rain to mercury, which were having a massive impact on public health, and the health ofour forests. Meanwhile, the coal industry has continued to treat the air we breathe as an open sewerfor the disposal offine particulates- which

cause asthma, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, and cancer: and C02, contributing 1/3 ofour nation's annual carbonemissions. The latter threatens the livability ofourplanet, and the survival ofgenerations yet unborn. According to the AmericanLung Association's 2011 report, "Toxic Air", "Over 386,000 tons of84 separate hazardous air pollutants spewfrom over400 (coal-burning) plants in46 states." This is more than the emissions ofthe next three top polluting industries combined. I am very concerned about these emissions from coal-fired power plants, which cause tens ofthousands ofdeaths and many more disabilities every year nationwide. While I cannottell whether my patient with asthma or COPD is sick because ofpollution from coal, the epidemiology tells me that it is a major contributing factor, if
not the primary etiology. By the time they see me, sometimes struggling for every breath

on 4 liters per minute ofoxygen, there is no way to undo the damage. Meanwhile, the billions ofdollars inhealth care costs are borne by the victims, their families, and our society.Furthermore, coal-fired powerplants leave behind mountains oftoxic ash, which threatenthe safety ofour drinking water, and poisonthe air ofneighboring communities. With all due respect to the workers who dedicate their lives to mining coal, the industry's arguments for protecting their industry are, to me, reminiscent ofthe tobacco industry's arguments against legislationto restrict tobacco sales and smoking. The evidence from my colleagues inpublic health is clear: coal is a public health threat, and

we should shift our energy productionto cleaner, safer alternatives as soon as possible. Energy experts tell us that this is technically feasible in less than a decade. I applaud EPA's proposal to leave implementation ofthe Clean Power Planto individual states, which could apply a carbontax as partofthe solution. Economists tell

us that a revenue-neutral fee ortax on carbon wouldreduce carbonemissions, and with them toxic emission from burning coal, without additional complex regulation. Arecent study from Regional Economic Models (REMI) reports that such a measure, implemented nationally, would prevent a quarter ofamillion deaths from respiratory disease in the first 20 years. British Columbia, Canada has set such an example, resulting in lower fossil fuel consumption, improved air quality, and a boost to theireconomy. In medicine, ifa patient is at risk for death ordisability from a disease, the precautionary principle tells us to implementpreventive measures, Forthe sake ofour public health, the Clean Power Plan is such a measure. Sincerely,

Daniel Wolk, MD