### Testimony ofthe Rev. Dr. Terrence G. Gallagher offered to the EPA/DOT Public Hearing on Heavy-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy & 

### Global Warming Emission Standards Thursday, August 6, 2015 at the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL 1

Good Afte rn oon, I am the Rev. Dr. Terry Gallagher and I app reciate the opportunity to speak with you today on the critical issue ofthe Heavy-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy 

### & Global Warmi ng Emission Standards. I ri se to speak tod ay on behalf of Com munities of Fa ith but most importantly on behalf of my grand kids and their peers across the globe. Allow me to begin with the observation that I am a bit of an odd duck. By that I mean that before I accepted the Call to Ministry, I spent 32 years in the Chemical Industry as an engineer and ultimately as a plant manager. So I will be speaking from that educational and experiential basis as well as from my ministry as a Public Theologian whose focus is cent ered entirely on Ecological Justice. My indust rial career spanned the decades du ring which many ofthe significant environmental regulations came into existen ce. I have to c onfess, that as each new regulat ion roll ed out to regulate some aspect ofwhat ind ustry could put in the air, water and soil, we in industry wou ld set up a howl. We wo uld wail and gnash our teeth while proclaiming that the EPA was si mply trying to drive all American industry out of business. You know kind of like what you are hearing these days in response to these and other proposed standards that wo uld reduce the amount of carbon pollution that we throw up into our air each day. But, here is th e brutal truth

. We didn't go out of business. We actua lly got better at doing what we were supposed to be doing all along which is manufacturing with excelle nce. In response to the rest riction s on what cou ld be released to the air, dumped in t he waters or buried underground, we had to get much better at controlling ou r manufacturing processes. As a result, ou r yields improved and our product quality improved. So me ofthe lesser manufacturers ran for foreign soil to avoid regulations but those wh o stayed got much bette r at doing what we do. We sti ll grumbled about your agency but perhaps with a little less animosity. I understand that you all face growing criticisms for doing what yo u are intentionally purposed to do

. I u nderstand that daily you get threatened with budget cuts or get treated to the mindless sarcasm of a Senator with a snowball saying that the snowball proves that Cl imate Change is a hoax and so is your agency. I can understand that you feel underappreciated for your diligence in protecting the environment.I understand but I don't care and neither should you. You are doing your job. The protests and criticisms and baseless attacks from the greed based special interest groups are part & parcel of what will happen when you are doing your job right. This has been true for your agency from day 1 and will continue as long as there are earth systems that need protecting for the benefit of present and future generations. You know as well as I that the current fossil fuel burning path our society is on is incompatible with human civilization in the very near future. If our kids/grandkids are to have a future then the fossil fuels must stay right where they are- deep underground. My good friends at the Union of Concerned Scientists, whom I have a great deal of respect for, have conducted a study which concludes that: 2



### The heavy-duty vehicle standards as proposed by the EPA and the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration are an important step in the right direction, but the urgent need for climate action makes it critical that the agencies act to reduce oil consumption and global warming emissionsfrom this sector as quickly as technology and cost considerations will allow

. UCS analysis shows that the technologies available to achieve a 40percent reduction infuel consumption can be incorporated into new trucks by 2025, rather than waiting until 2027

. Doing so wouldsave an additional 200,000 barrels of oilperday in 2035, and avoid an additional40 million metric tons of global warming emissions annually-equivalent to shutting down 12 coal-firedpowerplants. So while I applaud your efforts in developing the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy 

### & Global Warming Emission Standards, I also want to tell you what should be an obvious conclusion. These standards are simply a start on the very necessary path to a carbon free future. In truth, it's a baby step that has taken too long to come into being. After all , the Supreme Court gave you the authority to regulate carbon way back in 2007. So I would ask that you bring a greater sense of urgency to your very necessary work.
I know greater urgency in your implementation plans will undoubtedly incur greater wrath and increased attacks from the Senator with the snowball and his various colleagues and associated special interest groups. But being comfortable is not your job, your mandate is to protect the earth and its life systems. Every national science panel across the globe as well as international institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank 

### & International Monetary Fund along with a growing number of corporations are warning that our existing path is unsustainable.3

As a Christian ethicist, I can tell you there is absolutely no moral justification for us to destroy the potential offuture generations to live simply so that we can stay comfortable and not change. There are no ethics that support our continuing to wreck the earth's life systems as we are currently doing. So whi le I commend your work on the Heavy-Duty Truck Fuel Economy and Global Warming Standards, much more is needed on our path to a sustainable transportation system on a much quicker time schedule. My grandkids and their peers from across the Globe are counting on you. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity ofspeaking with you this day.