My name is Cherie Eichholz. I am the Executive Director of the Philadelphia chapter of Physicians for 

Social Responsibility. Physicians for Social Responsibility is a National non-profit organization which 

includes nearly 35,000 physicians, nurses, and other health professionals. Our Philadelphia chapter 

represents the medical and public health community that advocates policies and practices aimed at 

preventing violence and addressing environmental threats to health. 

As a long-time advocate of policies that protect the environment, in Philadelphia and on the west coast I 

have organized health professionals to increase awareness of threats to health that medicine cannot 

cure. Unfortunately we live in an era where these threats are not only part of our daily life, but they run 

rampant and constantly impact how we live. 

Today I am here, on behalf of thousands of Philadelphia area health professionals, to support passage of 

the EPA's new rules concerning reducing carbon emissions from power plants. Seeking to reduce our 

nation's overall carbon footprint by 30% within the next 15 years, the proposed Clean Power Plan 

represents a realistic and achievable plan that will positively affect our health and that of future 

generations. 

As the EPA well knows, Pennsylvania is one of the United States' leading suppliers of fossil fuel 

emissions, and as a recent Physicians for Social Responsibility (2009) report finds, coal pollutants have 

been linked to four of the five leading causes of death in our nation, including cancer, stroke, heart 

disease, and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Therefore as health representatives of the most 

populous Pennsylvania city, we feel especially compelled to make sure the EPA knows we feel strongly 

about these new rules. And while we would certainly prefer that guarantees for nuclear power were 

eliminated, as anything nuclear represents yet another threat to health, we again believe this proposal is 

a solid step forward. 

In addition to my coming to you as a PSR representative, I am also here as concerned spouse. My 

husband, Frank, struggles daily with chronic asthma. His days begin with the use of 3 different inhalers, 

followed by half an hour or more of hacking, coughing and gagging, and then throughout the day the 

effects of his asthma come and go, frequently depending upon the air quality of where we find 

ourselves. It is not uncommon for Frank to find it extremely difficult to simply breathe and his asthma is 

often triggered by seemingly innocuous changes in the environment. As his wife, as I watch him gag and 

choke and gasp for air, I am personally and poignantly aware of the ways our warming and changing 

environment affects his breathing. And while Frank thoroughly loves hot summers, I know — and we 

know — that the earth's temperature is rising and this increase will only have further devastating effects, 

on him, on us and on the future global community. 

Frank is hardly alone in his daily struggles; in Philadelphia, 25% of kids suffer from asthma. That means 1 

in 4 kids is wheezing and coughing and gasping for air every single day and on days when weather is 

extreme, their struggle is that much worse. It is simply not right that he — and indeed all Americans AND 

all of humanity — are at risk as the quality of our environment declines. For decades the energy industry 

has forced its risky, unhealthy and virtually unchecked practices down Americans' throats, as 

increasingly larger quantities of fossil fuels are dumped into our atmosphere. It is long past time for this 

insanity to end. The EPA, the federal government and our state and local governments, are responsible 

for protecting human health from a plethora of threats including those borne in our environment. 

As a representative of thousands of Philadelphia area health professionals, as a concerned wife, and as 

someone who sincerely cares about the legacy we leave for future generations, I urge the EPA to move 

forward with these rules in order to protect human and environmental health from the real and 

persistent threats climate change poses. 

Cherie Eicholz, Physicians for Social Responsibility, cherie@psrphila.org, 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, PA 19102