Comments on the Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule: Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 

I am Rebecca Studer and I speak for myself and the individuals belonging to the Green Sanctuary Committee 

of the 151 Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh and the Environmental Justice group ofthe Unitarian Universalist 

Pennsylvania Legislative Advocacy Network who agreed to support this testimony. They are listed below. One 

of our common principles is to "affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of 

which we are a part", thus we support the proposed decreases in carbon pollutants from existing power plants 

as a critical way of moving toward healthier lives and a more sustainable environment for all. 

I am a retired Physiologist with many years researching how our bodies work, and what can be done to return 

our systems to their normal function when things go wrong. I am also a Grandmother, with serious concerns 

about the 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 environment to diminish current adverse 

health effects of these pollutants as well as begin to effect changes that will minimize future, long term 

climate change for a more livable planet. 

The people of western PA are no strangers to the negative health effects of carbon pollutants. Although the 

quality of our air has improved substantially over the past decades, the incidence of asthma in our children is 

still higher in many communities than the national average. The EPA estimates a decrease of up to 150000 

asthma attacks/year in children once the new standards are in effect; this would be a great improvement in 

the quality of life for many children in our area and across the nation. 

Children suffering from asthma often fall behind their peers due to frequent absences from school. The 

medications they use to control their asthma can impact their ability to focus and retain information, thereby 

putting them at risk of failing 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 for white, 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 more than 70% of the African-American population in 

the United States live within 30 miles of a power plant (J. Pattison, NAACP Climate Justice 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 away from the most polluted areas. 

Locally, Dr Deborah Gentile, director of research in Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology at Allegheny General 

Hospital states that 'it's been widely reported that 50% of Pittsburgh Public School students are using a rescue 

inhaler for asthma (Tribune Review, AprilS, 2014)'. She is beginning a study to rigorously document the 

prevalence of asthma in several school districts with different socio-economic demographics and air quality. 

The short term 'cost' of asthma and other respiratory diseases in terms of emergency room visits, work days 

lost, and school days lost is significant; perhaps more important are the long term consequences for 

individuals' quality of life and our and other region's development and deployment of a healthy, educated, 

trained work force. 

I don't have asthma, but I did grow up watching an uncle struggle with the disease. While current treatments 

are certainly superior to what were available at that time, when the knowledge and technology is available, 
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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 of electric power from cleaner, renewable sources. South western PAis also no stranger to the 

consequences of the decline in a region's major economic driver. However, as during the decades following 

the loss of most of our steel industry, I have confidence in our ability to use existing technology, develop new 

energy production and delivery alternatives, and generate new job opportunities in healthier environments to 

employ those whose current jobs will vanish during the 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 their way to attaining the new standards without significant increases in the cost of power 

for their consumers. We can and must accept the challenge to transition from antiquated, dirty power plants 

to cleaner power generation- for ourselves and future generations. 

Individuals who agreed to support this testimony belonging to 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 K Studer, PhD, 157 Fairfax Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15221 rkstuder@comcast.net 

Pittsburgh, PA August 1, 2014