RE: Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 

Pres. Obama and the US EPA - Significantly Improve the Clean Power Plan - So it gets the 

job done. 

While members of Frack Free Illinois appreciate that Pres. Obama and the US EPA are 

attempting to finally addressing carbon emissions from existing power plants, we are 

extremely disheartened that all of the evidence of the planetary risk of run away climate 

change has not been translated into a draft Clean Power Plan that actually takes the threat 

seriously. We are calling for an urgent redraft of this Plan. 

Many analysts are calling this Plan arbitrary, ineffective and political. Your criteria for reduction 

goals are unnecessarily complicated and the abatement standards are flipped upside down: 

states that already have significant clean energy mixes have to do a higher percent of 

abatement than states that burn large amounts of coal. Concessions were obviously made to 

the coal states in these state-by-state requirements. All we can say is, "get ready for the 

lawsuits" and "stop wasting precious time". The Onion described the Clean Power Plan the 

best in their headlines: "New EPA Regulations Would Force Power Plants to Find 30% More 

Loopholes by 2030", http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-epa-regulations-would-forcepower-plants-to-fi,36176/ 

We are saddened beyond words that Pres. Obarna and the EPA have chosen to nip around 

the edges of our "carbon" problem rather than embracing the science of climate change and 

promoting policies that will actually make a significant impact on the climate. The number one 

danger of inadequately dealing with carbon pollution is the accelerated warming of the Arctic 

seas and the release of vast stores of methane from frozen methane hydrates on the sea 

floors. This danger is beautifully illustrated in the video "Last Hours" at www.lasthours.org. 

We must take heed of what is happening in the Arctic. The Arctic Methane Emergency Group, 

http://www.ameg.me/index.php/our-blod, has been sounding the alarm that Arctic methane 

is a global warming carbon bomb. Please keep in mind that methane is 86 times more potent as a 

greenhouse gas than CO2 over a 20-year period. The Groups reports that the Arctic is presently the 

site of 40% of all the planet's carbon and that it is already a substantial source of methane 

released to the atmosphere. The group reports that the methane emissions are increasing as 

the Arctic is warming several times faster than the rest of our planet. The Group says that if 

the Arctic continues to warm then methane release will greatly increase and will feedback to 

accelerate the rate of global warming. Unstoppable runaway Arctic warming will lead to 

unstoppable runaway global warming. The Group is warning the world that the warming in the 

Arctic must be halted immediately. 

Vast releases of methane from the sea floors were the cause of the Permian mass extinction 

250 million years ago, so the precedent of run away climate change has already occurred at 

least once on this planet. 

The Swedish Polar Research group reported on July 28', 2014, that there is presently a 

methane megaflare being released from the Siberian sea slope. The team of scientists 

hypothesize that over the last decade a stream of warmer Atlantic ocean water has been 

flowing along the Siberian ocean's continental slope destabilizing the methane ice. 
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/28/1317252/--Vast-methane-plumes-escapingfrom-the-seafloor-discovered-in-Siberian-Arctic-Sea?detail=facebook 

These scientists are sounding the alarm, bringing us to the bone chilling realization that 

humanity might be perched on the precipice of the 6thmass extinction on this planet. This 

science is what members of Frack Free Illinois would like Pres. Obama and the EPA to 

embrace fully, and to use as motivation in your rewrite of the Clean Power Plan. The human 

race is in peril and we are not going to make it if you and Pres. Obama continue to bow to the 

political pressure of the carbon polluters. We implore you to act bolder and faster on carbon 

pollution. 

Our biggest disappointment with the draft Plan is that it is too little, too late. 

Decreasing carbon emissions 30% from 2005 levels by the year 2030 is not nearly enough to 

actually affect rapidly accelerating climate change. The proposed rules improperly call for 

reductions from 2005 levels. The problem is that CO2 levels in 2005 were the highest ever. In 

fact, current levels of CO2 are15`)/0 less than in 2005. The proposed rules should call for 

bigger cuts. The Sierra Club has suggested a more serious goal of a 50% reduction from 

2005 levels by 2030, we second their call for deeper cuts. 

Today we are delivering to you over 1000 signatures on a petition urging you to take bolder 

steps in your Plan. Your plan should prioritize and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and 

energy efficiency - resulting in a larger impact on the dimate. 

We ask that you: 

1) Phase out dirty coal fired power plants — any further use of coal, no matter how efficient, will continue to 

emit significant carbon. 

2) Reject the reliance on frack gas — scientists have found extensive leakage of methane from our entire 

gas infrastructure, (from the frack wells to the pipes entering homes). Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry 

represents a growing proportion of total green house gases (GHG). In the US their emissions expanded from 

10% of total GHGs in 2009 to 37% today. Frack Gas moves us in the wrong direction. 

http://grist.org/news/americas-natural-gas-system-is-super-leaky-and-thats-bad-newsfor-the-climate/http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/february/methane-leaky-gas-021314.html 

http://www.pnas.org/content/111/30/10955.full.pdf+html?sid=2f719da9-832d-42aa-ad6fe6a607c42ece Also tacking poses unacceptable risks to our communities, such as water contamination, 

health effects. and earthquakes, http://concernedhealthny.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/07/CHPNY-Fracking-Compendium.pdf. 

3) Remove nuclear subsidies from the carbon rules - Nudear energy is not a dean or renewable energy. 

We oppose indefinite ratepayer subsidies to support aging, dangerous, expensive nudear power plants. 

We simply can not afford to prop up 6% of the nuclear plants while at the same time investing heavily in 

renewable energy, capacity and energy efficiency. Wind energy is coming online now in Iowa at 3.3 cents per 

kwh, the market simply does not support the continued reliance on expensive nuclear power. Please do not 

burden us with disincentives to the dosing of aging nudear plants which will become increasingly expensive 

to maintain. The nudear industry has been massively subsidized by tax dollars since its inception, it is time to 

cut the cord, let the markets decide. 

In particular we oppose: 
-- supporting the building of new nuclear reactors. New nuclear reactors will cost billions of 

dollars and take many years to bring on line, they are not the answer to the reality of climate 

change at the present. 

— the claims that nuclear power is reliable. This ignores the many times nuclear reactors have 

had to shut down due to warm water temperatures, flooding, and extreme weather events, all 

of which will worsen as the climate warms. 

— the claims that nuclear power is renewable. Please do not overlook the fact that fossil fuels 

are used for uranium mining, milling, processing, and that huge amounts of energy will be 

needed to isolate nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years. Also in this era of global 

warming related drought we can ill afford the large amounts of water needed to operate and 

cool the reactors. Water is needed for human and agricultural use, and will be in shorter 

supply in the drought conditions created by climate change. 

4) Prioritize and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency — please 

revise your Plan to include real incentives to switch to renewable s. Specifically we ask that you move away 

from recommending cap and trade programs that are often a vehide for polluters to avoid cutting their 

emissions, and which have failed in the markets in the EU, 

htttp://www.washi ngtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/20/eu ropes-cap-andtrade-program-is-in-trouble-can-it-be-fixed/. 

Instead assist the states in the deployment of a carbon tax, (probably best as a regional carbon tax or fee), 

with rebates back to the consumer to help defray the costs of the rapid transition to renewable energy. A 

carbon tax is one of the most effective market mechanisms to drive the deployment of new renewable 

energy, such as Wind and Solar. Just before the economic collapse in 2008, British Columbia 

passed a tax on carbon. Five years later, it's a case study in smart climate policy. Although the 

BC carbon tax has impacted more on the emissions released from transportation, a variation 

of this "revenue-neutral carbon tax" could be modeled for power generation, 

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/british-columbia-carbon-tax-sanity. 

The good news is that renewable energy and energy efficiency investments create far more 

jobs per dollar spent than fossil fuels -- including natural gas. Specifically, clean-energy 

investment generates more than 3 times the number of jobs as does spending the same 

amount of money in the fossil fuel sectors. And the clean energy sector is growing at a rate 

nearly double the growth rate of the overall economy. We agree with the goals of the 

"Solutions Project" which has outlined how each state could get to 100% renewable energy by 

2050, with the right optimization of Wind, Solar, Hydro and other renewable energy, 

http://thesolutionsproject.org/. In Illinois their data reveals that not only would we benefit 

from the clean, green energy, but that 286,200 long term renewable energy jobs would be 

created. We need those green jobs! 

We urge you to rewrite the Clean Power Plan and add the incentives necessary to move us 

forward to the energy sources of the 21st century. Take the warnings of the climate scientists 

seriously and throw off the politics of the carbon polluters. Please produce a Plan that actually 

impacts climate change, thus helping to mitigate the serious danger that humanity is facing. 

. itirhy 

Dr .Lora Chamberlain - Organizer for Frack Free Illinois, www.facebook.com/FrackFreelllinois 773-486-7660, drlora2@yahoo.com, 

Sincerely, 
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/obama-climate-rules-not-enough-to-fightglobal-warming/ http://harpers.org/blog/2014/06/a-top-obama-aide-says-historY-wontapplaud-the-presidents-climate-policy/ 

Fracked Gas Isn't a Bridge Fuel—It's a Gangplank, 

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/26-6 

Prof. Ingraffea of Cornell Univ. talking about how fracking wells and infrastructure 

leaks methane, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o78j77I7XUw COMPENDIUM OF SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, AND MEDIA FINDINGS DEMONSTRATING 

RISKS AND HARMS OF FRACKING (UNCONVENTIONAL GAS AND OIL EXTRACTION), 

http://concernedhealthny.org/wP-content/uPloads/2014/07/CHPNY-FrackingCompendium.pdf 

Nuclear Power And Climate: Why Nukes Can't Save The Planet, 

http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/nukesclimatefact614.pdf 

Carbon Tax vs Cap and Trade 

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/30/5764506/will-obamas-climate-rules-revive-cap-and-trade 

http://www.carbontradewatch.org/issues/cap-and-trade.html 

http://www.carbontax.org/ 

Germany Sets New Record, Generating 74% of Power Needs From Renewable Energy, 

httplithinkprogress.org/dimate/2014/05/13/3436923/germany-energy-records/