TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSED CLEAN POWER PLAN RULE 

Docket 1D No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 

By 

.Jennifer Quinn 

37 Piersol St. 

Tamaqua, PA 18252 

.Jasquid@hotmail.com 

Good afternoon. My name is Jennifer Quinn and I'm a resident of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. 

I spend as much time as I can outdoors. As a forester, I spent most of my working life outside, and my 

free-time hiking and mountain biking all over the country and in my home state of Pennsylvania. I 

believe we have an obligation to protect our outdoor and wildlife heritage from climate change by 

addressing its causes- including carbon pollution from power plants. Therefore, I fully support the 

EPA's proposed standard. It should be implemented promptly and without being weakened in any way. 

Failing to do so will mean increasingly disastrous impacts on our wildlife including habitat loss, out-ofcontrol pests such as ticks and bark beetles, and species extinctions. 

It's no longer acceptable for us to waste time debating the validity of climate science-the science is 

clear (whether you want to believe it or not)-carbon pollution causes climate change, resulting in more 

frequent and extreme weather events, drought, wildfire, and sea level rise that devastate our 

communities, threaten public health, destroy and degrade wildlife habitat, and irreversibly harm our 

outdoor recreational activities- whether you're hunting, fishing, hiking, or wildlife watching- climate 

change is a threat. 

Here in Pennsylvania, many species are on the front lines of the climate change battle. The brook trout, 

an economically and culturally important species, requires clean, cold, waters to thrive, but their 

populations will decline with a warming climate. The black duck, whose populations are already low, 

will lose important nesting sites due to sea level rise, and seagrass lost due to sea level rise will be 

devastating for species that rely on this aquatic vegetation for food, including the American Wigeon, 

northern pintail, canvasback, and the black duck. 

Many endangered species recovered in the 20th century through programs paid for by sportsmen 

through excise taxes and stamp fees, but climate change is putting these success stories and America's 

outdoor legacy at increased risk. 

For those who don't hunt or fish, you might not care about the fate of trout or ducks. However, climate 

change does not discriminate based on species. Humans are threatened by drought, violent and deadly 

weather events, and disease carrying insects such as ticks and mosquitoes that are thriving in a warming 

world. Mosquito borne diseases like dengue fever and chikungunya, found in the tropical regions of 
Africa and southeast Asia, have found their way to the U.S and will continue to spread to states that 

never thought they'd have to deal with such outbreaks. 

If we want our children and grandchildren to have the same opportunities to enjoy the outdoors that 

we've had, and to not deal with the consequences of an ever-warming world, we owe it to them to act 

now to cut climate-altering carbon pollution. 

This rule to limit carbon pollution has been called, by some, a war on coal and an attack on coal miners 

and their families- words and phrases most likely developed by a large, well-paid marketing firm, meant 

to scare and anger. Having just heard some of my testimony, some of those in attendance might easily 

brand me as "one of those environmentalists" but I'm also from a long line of coal miners. My greatgrandfather and grandfather were both Pennsylvania coal miners and my father followed in their 

footsteps and mined coal for decades in the anthracite region of northeastern Pennsylvania, doing 

underground and surface mining. And I can assure you, I am neither frightened nor angered by EPA's 

carbon pollution limits and I would urge others not to be either. 

Unfortunately, industries have a history of over-reacting to regulations. During the mid-1970's, the EPA 

began requiring the use of catalytic converters on new automobiles to dramatically reduce air pollution. 

The big automakers claimed these new regulations would cause the auto industry to collapse and would 

devastate the economy, dramatic claims that were entirely false. If anything, history has shown us that 

regulations have spurred innovation- increasing fuel efficiency and reducing pollution from our vehicles. 

The Clean Carbon Plan can also drive innovation by spurring investment in energy efficiency and clean 

energy technologies. 

Despite our differences, we are all in this together (whether we like it or not) and we owe it to one 

another to do the right thing. 

Please implement the proposed standard without any changes as soon as possible. Thank you.