My nameis Sam Booher and I nowlive in Augusta, GA. I was born and raised in West Virginia's Coal County. My Grandfather died due to Black Lung disease. Upon high school graduation "in my day" most young men onlyhad two choices: going into the Coal Mines or theArmy. I am nowretired from theArmy andliving in Georgia. Realizing that solar and wind power are much safer options than coal-powered plants, when I retired I began buying Southern Company stock. Twelve years ago my wife and I began attending annual Shareholder meetings and speaking out for solar power. Today I own enough stockthat we are welcomed when my wife and I attend a Southern Company Shareholder meeting. Theyknow I ampushing Southern Company to close their coal burning power plants and move to solar and wind energy. What they do notknow is that my efforts are because ofmy memory ofmy Grandfather who worked for years in coal mines and diedbecause he did. Job lose- Before my Grandfather died from Black Lung, he told me there were approximately 35,000 coal miners in West Virginiajustlike him working deep in a coal mine every day. Today, Mountain Top Coal Mining has replaced traditional mines. Due to the fewjobs they need to get to the coal out, I would guess there are probably less than 1,000people still working at actually producing coal in my home state. Coal mining is no longer providingjobs. In fact, Mountain Top mining is today destroying drinking waterwells, destroying mountain streams, and driving people from theirhomes. So therefore, I cannot understandwhy everyone is not supporting EPA's carbon pollution standards for power plants. Well okay, I do understand why Mountain Top Coal Mining Industry does not share my view. Rising Cost

- Burning coal is expensive to society. What is going to be more costly to America: learningto live with Climate Change orpreventing it ? Afew people do notbelieve massive Tropical Storms and Hurricanes are a result of excess carbon in the atmosphere. They do notbelieve excess carbon dioxide results in increased energy that absorbs additional moisture andis melting ice worldwide. There will be more rain, but where? Almost, everyone however does recognize our oceans are rising and our coasts are feeling the effect. Will climate change significantly impact Georgia ? Will it impact our agriculture with more rain orless rain ? Will we have a one foot ocean rise by 2050 or maybe sooner? No one knows, yet. But these changes are coming. Last --the coal ash spill at TV A's Kingston Plant in 2008 was the alarmbell that drewpublic, media and the government's attention to the very real danger ofthis toxic ash, a byproduct ofcoal-fired power plants. The Nation was shockedbythe amount ofdamage when a TVA coal ash pond dam gave way andhorrifiedbythe cost ofclean-up.., One comment needs to be made-- we did notlearn ourlesson. Since 1V A's spill the Nation has watched as Duke Energy on 2 Feb this yearhad a coal ash dam breakin North Carolina. There is a True-ism that says "All Landfills leak, it isjusta matter ofwhen." Allow me to start a newTrue-ism. "All earthen dams will break. Itisjust a matter of when." EPA needs to get into the Coal Ash Pondinspection andregulation business. To not do so will result in more coal ash toxic pond spills intoAmerica's waters. I will close by saying it was a" Good News day" when we learned that EPAwill begin limiting the carbon pollution from the ourexisting coal-burning power plants. To me this is especially importantbecause EPA's proposed limits address the real issue facing all ofus and that is Climate Change. Thankyou for being here.