### Comments on the Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule: Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 I am Rebecca Studer and I speak for myselfand the individuals belongingtothe Green Sanctuary Committee ofthe 1 51 Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh and the Environmental Justice group ofthe Unitarian Universalist Pennsylvania Legislative Advocacy Networkwho agreed to support this testimony. They are listed below. One ofour common principles is to "affirm and promote respect forthe interdependentweb ofall existence of which we are a part", thus we supportthe proposed decreases in carbon pollutants from existing power plants as a critical way ofmoving toward healthier lives and a more sustainable environmentfor all. I am a retired Physiologist with many years researching howour bodies work, and what can be done to return our systems totheir normal function when things go wrong. I am also a Grandmother, with serious concerns aboutthe world we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. The proposed changes in existing power plant carbon emissions can have important, beneficial effects on our environmentto diminish current adverse health effects ofthese pollutants as well as begin to effect changes that will minimize future, long term climate change for a more livable planet. The people ofwestern PA are no strangers tothe negative health effects ofcarbon pollutants. Although the quality ofour air has improved substantiallyoverthe past decades, the incidence ofasthma in our children is still higher in many communities than the national average. The EPA estimates a decrease ofupto 150000 asthma attacks/year in children once the new standards are in effect; this would be a great improvement in the quality oflife for many children in our area and across the nation. Children sufferingfrom asthma often fall behind their peers due tofrequent absences from school. The medications they use to control their asthma can impacttheir abilityto focus and retain information, thereby puttingthem at risk offailing in school. Frequent visits to emergency rooms due to severe asthma attacks are common and increase health care costs. Statistics show that in PA asthma disproportionately impacts black non-hispanic children. Center for Disease Control data from 2011 reported that across PA the asthma prevalence rate forwhite, non-hispanic children was 10.9%, while the rate for black, non-hispanic children was over twice that amount at 24.7%. It is estimated that morethan 70% ofthe African-American population in the United States live within 30 miles ofa power plant 

### (J. Pattison, NAACP ClimateJustice Initiative). These data highlight another moral and ethical issue associated with pollution from power plants and other sources; those most impacted are often minority groups and economically disadvantaged peoples with limited resources and options for relocating awayfrom the most polluted areas. Locally, Dr Deborah Gentile, directorof research in Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology atAllegheny General Hospital states that 'it's been widely reported that 50% of Pittsburgh Public School students are using a rescue inhalerfor asthma (Tribune Review, AprilS, 2014)'. She is beginning a studyto rigorously documentthe prevalence ofasthma in several school districts with different socio-economic demographics and air quality. The shortterm 'cost' ofasthma and other respiratory diseases in terms of emergency room visits, work days lost, and school days lost is significant; perhaps more important arethe longterm consequences for individuals' quality of lifeand our and other region's development and deployment ofa healthy, educated, trained workforce. I don't have asthma, but I did grow up watching an uncle struggle with the disease. While current treatments are certainly superiorto what were available atthattime, when the knowledge and technology is available,

### • failure to minimize known factors that cause disease is unethical, leaving people to deal with chronic respiratory and other debilitating conditions all their lives. The technology is available to diminish disease causing pollution from existing power plants and to expand generation ofelectric powerfrom cleaner, renewable sources. South western PAis also no stranger to the consequences ofthe decline in a region's major economic driver. However, as duringthe decades following the loss of most ofour steel industry, I have confidence in ourabilityto use existingtechnology, develop new energy production and delivery alternatives, and generate newjob opportunities in healthier environmentsto employthose whose currentjobswill vanish duringthe transition to a cleaner power economy. The Clean Power Plan gives the states wide latitude in the ways in which the new standards are achieved, and many states are well on theirwayto attaining the new standardswithout significant increases in the cost of power fortheir consumers. We can and must accept the challenge to transition from antiquated, dirty power plants to cleaner power generation- forourselves and future generations. Individuals who agreed to support thistestimonybelongingto the: 1'' Unitarian Green Sanctuary Committee 

### & Friends UUPLAN-Environmental Justice Group Margaret Fuhrman Rick Joers Ann Haines Gail Mershon Eileen Kraus-Dobratz Barbara Litt Robert Mitchell Warwick Powell Brian Ramsey Mary Schinhofen Raymond Schinhofen Ned Schmidgal Scott Smith Jim Studer

Rebecca KStuder, PhD, 157 Fairfax Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15221 rkstuder@comcast.net Pittsburgh, PA August 1, 2014