# EPA Hearing on Carbon Emission Standards for New Power Plants Washington, ·DC , May 24, 2012 

## Testimony of Dylan Voorhees , Clean Energy Director, Natural Resources Council ofMaine In Support of Proposed Carbon Rules

Hello, my name is Dylan Voorhees and I am the Clean Energy Director for the Natural Resources Council ofMaine (NRCM

.) NRCM is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1959 and dedicated to protecting, restoring, and conserving Maine's environment, now and for future generations. We have over 12,000 members and activists. Improving air quality, promoting clean energy and advocating for action on climate change are high priorities for NRCM

- because they are high priorities for Maine.
The EPA ' s proposed carbon pollution standards for power plants are essential to protecting Maine people and environment. Maine ' s environment is tied to our culture and economy in unique ways, making it especially critical that we address climate change and power plant air pollution as quickly and effectively as possible

. So far, over 8 ,200 Maine people have commented to the EPA in support of these proposed carbon standards

. That is an enormous number for our rural state. But this abstract quantification belies the fundamental fact that climate change is already negatively impacting real people in Maine--their lives and their livelihoods

. Last week EPA ' s Administrator for Region I (New England) came to Maine to participate in and listen to a panel of diverse Maine leaders talking about climate change--prompted by these proposed standards

. I'd like to share a few oftheir words so that you can have a sense ofhow much people in Maine have at stake. Harry Dwyer is a master logger and licensed forester from Fayette, Maine who works in the woods for his own small forestry business. Harry doesn' t earn a salary, his pay comes from the time he spends logging the woods

. He said:

" I don ' t think climate change is a future problem

. I think we are in the midst of it right now, and I've been absorbing the economic costs oflost work time when heavy rain shuts us down or when we are waiting for the ground to freeze to start a loggingjob.

" Ten or fifteen years ago, no one had to worry about deer ticks [carrying Lyme disease] in Central Maine. Now I' m picking ticks off hours after I get home

. Theyjust weren ' t here because we used to have those cold winters that kept them at bay.

" I am a parent, and the world we hand offto our children matters more to me than the lo st work time and the economic cost ofthese things

. Our asthma rates , especially childhood asthma are far higher than is morally or ethically defensible. If you have ever laid awake at night listening to your child struggle to breath, and had to go everywhere with an inhaler,

## wondering at what point are you going to head to the hospital because the inhaler and nebulizer are not helping, then you will agree that these rules are long overdue. " Harry is one of the Maine people caught in the crossfire ofwarming and pollution-a vulnerable spot that will only get worse
. The impacts ofloss of traditional winter, declining habitat for industrial softwood species, and increased invasive pests pose an enormous threat to the forest products industry in Maine. On top ofthat, his son is one ofover 23 ,000 kids in Maine suffering from asthma-Maine has one of the highest rates in the country, perhaps because we sit downwind of so many coal plants and other industrial polluters.
Indeed, these rules are important because they will help reduce the effect of climate warming on smog formation, which fuels childhood asthma attacks and other respiratory illness. Dr. Peggy Pennoyer was also a panelist at last week's Climate Leaders Roundtable**i~** 

## Maine. She said:

" As a specialist in asthma, I see the health effects of air pollution 

## daily on children and adults. "
But what she and many other physicians in Maine are really worried about is the situation getting worse
. She cited a recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists that predicted 15,000 additional cases of serious respiratory illness in Maine by 2020 if warming trends are allowed to continue.
Doctors , nurses, scientists and other experts say that carbon pollution is dangerous for children and the elderly especially. By advancing these standards

- along with clean air safeguards that address mercury, soot, smog and other pollutants

- the EPA is holding polluters accountable and protecting Maine families and others.
I said Maine' s culture and economy are uniquely tied to having a clean environment. This isn ' t just about our forests. Tourism is one of our biggest sectors, and people travel to Maine for clean air and beautiful coasts. Smog and climate change put these at risk. Believe it or not, Maine has the longest coastline of any of the lower 48 states (that ' s because our deeply wrinkled coasts cram many miles of ocean front into a very tight space
.) Concerns about sea-level rise and erosion of coastal ecosystems and beaches are, again, not abstract. Communities up and down our southern coasts are struggling to hold onto beaches that are washing into the sea - with the real risk that tourism dollars wash away along with the sand.
Our marine environment is also essential to our large commercial fishing sector, including a $375 million dollar lobster and shell-fishing industry. The acidification of our oceans as a result ofunlimited carbon pollution could be an existential threat to this sector and the traditional way oflife it entails. According to Professor Mark Green, one ofMaine ' s scientific experts on ocean acidification , excess carbon dioxide dissolving into our oceans has already raised the acidity pH of the ocean by 30%. This could increase to 300% within the next 50+ years. This is a huge threat to animals with calcium shells; not ' merely" clams and oysters , but an entire foodweb that depends on tiny microorganisms ,from salmon to whales. Professor Green , who also owns a small shellfish business himself, is already finding evidence of impacts from corrosive seawater and acidic mudflats.

## Right now , with no national limits on industrial carbon pollution from power plants , most polluters are free to dump unlimited amounts of carbon into the atmosphere

. This is unacceptable to states like Maine.
In fact , Maine and other northeastern states have taken action themselves to limit carbon pollution from power plants through the innovative and highly successful Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI.) This market-based initiative is demonstrating that well-designed carbon pollution policies can be incredibly economically beneficial. Because ofthe way this program is designed , independent assessments have shown that Maine' s economy will see a net benefit of $92 million as a direct result of RGGI. (Region wide the economy will see a $1.6 billion net benefit.)
One of the reasons RGGI is particularly important and exciting is because it is tackling pollution from existing power plants. Existing power plants contribute more to climate change than any other sector

. While we congratulate and applaud the EPA for these standards for new power plants , it is even more essential that standards for existing power plants come next. That is what the people of Maine need in order to preserve our way of life, our natural resource bas ed economies , and protect the health of children.
The power plants we build today will become the fleet ofpower plants our children will inherit for 30-40 years to come, along with the air and the climate that we are leaving. My s ix year old daughter asked me thi s week why l was travelling to Washington, DC. She has a vague sense of what I do , so she asked " Are you going to clean the air, daddy?"

" Yes , I'm trying ," I answered

. " But to do that I have to persuade our leaders to make sure that we have less pollution. "
That's why I'm here--on her behalf , and on behalfofthe members of NRCM and the people of Maine to support these rules and insist that we have strong carbon pollution standards from here out, and plead our elected officials let these and future rules move forward. Thank you.

# EPA 

# & MAINE LEADERS ROUNDTABLE ON CLIMATE CHANGE Thursday, May 17, 2012 Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine

Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed global warming pollution standards for new power plants. These standards will shape the next generation of power plants
across the United States and positively impact air pollution and the rate of global warming. What does this mean for Maine?

1. Welcome- Lisa Pohlmann, Executive Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine 2. Addressing Carbon Emissions from New Power Plants- Curt Spalding, Administrator, EPA Region I 3. Panel of Maine Leaders on Climate & 

## Energy- Excerpts & 

## Bios Attached 4. Questions or Remarks from the Audience

This event is not part of EPA's formal comment proces s for the proposed carbon pollution standards. For assistance with submitting comments by the june 25 deadline, you can vi s it www.nrcm.org or www .regulations.gov. 

# Sponsors:

Co-sponsors: 

# PSR®

## r.~ 

# '· Physicians for Social Respon. slbility**~**....u 

### Maine Chapter

# Maine Leaders on Climate & 

# Energy: Highlights from the Panel

Harry Dwyer. Forester "I don't think climate change is a future problem. I think we are in the midst of it right now, and I've been absorbing the economic costs of lost work time when heavy rain shuts us down and when we are waiting for the ground to freeze to start a winter loggingjob. Ten or fifteen years ago, no one had to worry about ticks in central Maine. I'm now picking off ticks for hours after I get home. They just weren't here because we used to have those cold winters that kept them at bay. "I am a parent, and the world we hand off to our children matters more to me than the lost work time and the economic cost ofthese things. Our asthma rates, especially childhood asthma, are far higher than is morally or ethically defensible. Ifyou have ever laid awake at night listening to your child struggle to breath, and had to go everywhere with an inhaler, wondering at what point are you going to head to the hospital because the inhaler and nebulizer are not helping, then you will agree that thes e rules are long overdue."

Stephan Mulkey. PhD. President of Unity College "The World Meteorological Organization has found that the last decade was by far the warmest in recorded history worldwide. This applies generally to our part of New England. "We are well on track to have a 

## 300% increase in the hydrogen ion [acid] concentrations ofthe oceans ifwe continue with this level of pollution before the end ofthis century. This represents an enormous biological challenge to the organisms that live and that many of us depend on economically in the state ofMaine. "As the climate zones move, we are literally looking at the phenomenon that will cause the disintegration of our biological communities as we have come to know them

... That has profound implications for not only our understanding of nature, but also for our economy. "The thing that most concerns me as a scientist and as somebody who is concerned about educating a generation ofpeople is the impact of positive feedbacks on the climate system form naturally occurring sources of C02. As we warm the climate, one of the things we are seeing repeatedly is rapid thawing of the permafrost of the arctic; evidence of northern soils emitting more C02 

## as they become more biologically active."

## Dr.**Mar~aret** 

## Pennoyer. Asthma specialist "In Maine we have 93,000 adults and 23,000 children with asthma and 43,000 people with bronchitis. As a specialist in Asthma I see the health effects of air pollution daily on our children and adults. Children and our elderly are especially vulnerable to the effects oftoxic smog and soot particles. "What a "bad air day" means for my young patient with asthma who wants to be a normal kid on the track team is that he must instead sit along the sideline and watch his team mates run during these "bad air days

... And my elderly patients find themselves struggling to breath and confined to home by these bad air days, unable to do the simplest of activities outside. "(Ozone] formation is sped up in warmer weather which is why we get so many more bad air days in the summer. That means warming temperatures are bad news for lung disease in Maine. "According to analysis of mid-range warming scenarios by the Union of Concerned Scientists, we could see 15,000 additional cases of serious respiratory illness in Maine by 2020

. "

Sam Day. Sportsman and High-school student: "I am an avid fly fisherman. I spent 150 days on the water last year alone. I spend many early mornings heading out to the duck blind in Merrymeeting Bay

. I'm also a season pass holder at Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley. Each year I see global climate change have a direct impact on the things that I love. It's not my livelihood, but it's what I live for

. " "A 

## shorter winter and longer warm season mean warmer waters. Maine's precious cold water fish species can't cope with that

. It has a direct impact on guides livelihoods and people working in the northern Maine woods." "I've travelled quite a bit throughout the US

... There is no place like Maine and we should strive to keep it that way. My generation will live with the impacts of the decisions that are made today and future generations will be stuck with the mess if we leave it behind. We really need to think about what kind oflegacy we want to leave."

.



# In addition, two panelists, Professor Mark Green and former AG Steve Rowe, recently printed op-eds that reflect their remarks {included).

# ROUNDTABLE ON CLIMATE CHANGE PANELISTS

Jestena Boughton, 

## owner of Colony Hotel, Kennebunkport: Jestena is the third generation of the Boughton family to own and operate the Colony Hotel in downtown Delray Beach since 1935. She owns , with cousins John Martin and Hilary Roche, the Kennebunkport Colony Hotel, in the family since 1947. Born and raised in Delray, she spent summers at the Kennebunkport Colony Hotel working in almost every capacity until completing her graduate degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Jestena, a licensed Landscape Architect, worked in the private and public sectors in Seattle for 10 years and was a Landscape Architecture professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst before moving back to Delray to manage the Colony Hotels. Her innovative teaching focused on ecological design and green building for sustainability. Under Jestena's leadership the Kennebunkport Colony Hotel became known as Maine's first Environmentally Responsible hotel. Jestena focuses her design expertise and experience by designing and supervising all renovation work at both hotels. Both Colony Hotels are National Trust Historic Hotels of America and Green Hotels of America. 

## Anthony Buxton, 

## energy and climate attorney, Preti Flaherty, Augusta: Anthony 

### w. Buxton serves as chair of the firm's Energy and Utilities Practice Group. Tony creates solutions to business energy problems, including the challenge of high-energy costs, and represents some of Maine's largest energy consumers. Prior to joining Preti Flaherty, Tony served as a firs t lieutenant in the U.S. Army (Armor) and worked for future U.S. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell. After law school, he co-founded the Energy Law Institute in Concord, New Hampshire , the nation's first renewable energy think tank. The Institute served the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of the Navy, the National Conference of State Leg i slatures and others in developing state and federal policies to encourage renewable energy. Tony then served as law clerk to the Honorable Hugh H. Bownes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston. Tony joined Preti Flaherty after completing his clerkship in 1980

. 

## Sam Day, 

## high school student and outdoorsman, Hallowell: sam is a 15

-year old freshman at Hall-Dale High School. He has spent his entire life living in the great state of Maine, fly-fishing its countless clean waterways, hunting ducks in its low marshes, and snowboarding on its mountain slopes. He is an active member of Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, Protect our Winters, and American Rivers. 

## Harry Dwyer, 

## Ghost Dancer Forestry, licensed forester and certified master logger, Fayette: Harry Dwyer lives with his son on a 300-acre farm in Fayette. He manages his own land working with natural s tand dynamics and natural processes and owns his own professional forestry business, Ghost Dan cer Forestry

. Harry has been active as a board member with the Small Woodland Owners A ssociation of Maine, Maine Forest Products Council, Kennebec County Farm Bureau and is a former town sele ctman. Harry served on forest policy advisory boards with the Baldacci and King Admini s trations and in 2001 , received the Maine Forest S ervice's Outstandin g Forest Steward Award. He ha s a BS in Agricultural and Re source Economi cs and a Maste r of Forestry from the Unive r sity of Maine Orono. He is a l i cen se d professional fores ter, certified master logger, licen sed wood scaler and certifie d logging profess ional. He is active in the Forest Guild and i s a current board member of the Kennebec Land Tru s t

. Harry has horses, a dog named Joe , and enjoys playing ba seball when he c an. As a forester, logger a nd businessman, Harry has repea t edly spoken publically about the connect ion between a healthy economy and a clean environment

. For his strong voice on behalf of Maine 's environment and e conomy he received the Harrison L Richardson Environmental Leadership Award from the Maine Con servation Voters in 2012

. 

## Mark Green, 

## Ph.D. ocean acidification scientist, St. Joseph's College, Peak's Island: Mark A. Green has been a Professor in the Department of Natural Science at Saint Joseph ' s College of Maine since 2007. He received his BS from Allegheny College and hi s PhD in Oceanography at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Professor Green has been studying ocean acidification for nearly 17 years , well before anyone even knew it was a problem. He w as the firs t s

cientist to show that acid production in m arine sedim e nt s is a significant mortality factor of small bivalves

. He also is a small bu sine ss owner-- Peaks Island Shellfish Company grows s hellfish i n su sp ended trays o n r a ft s in be a utiful Ca sco Bay, u sin g su s t ainabl e aq uaculture m eth od s

. 

## Martha Kirkpatrick, 

## Rector of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Belfast , Lincolnville: R eve ren d Marth a Kirkp atri ck i s the Rector of St. Margaret' s Epi scopal Church in Belfast, Maine. She is al s o the Missioner for Environmental Stewardship for the Epi scopal Diocese of Maine. From 1999 to 2003 she wa s the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection under Governor Angu s King, and w as previously the Burea u Director for the DEP's Bureau of Land and Water Quality

. She has a J.D. from George W ashington University Law School and a Masters of Divini t y f rom the Harvard Divinity School.

## David M arshall , 

## City Cou n ci l o r, Portland: Co un c i lor David Marshall i s Portland's Chair of the Transportation , Energy, and Sustainab ili ty Co m mittee as wel l as an art ist, f ounder of C o n stell atio n Galle ry, and the President of t he Mai n e Art i st Collective. Ma rshall is the stewa rd of P o rtl a nd's energy servi ce con t ract , an en ergy effici e ncy i nve st m e nt i n 45 mu ni cip al bu i lding that will save over $ 1 .7 mi lli on i n energy eac h yea r w hil e reduc i ng the munic i p a l carbon footp ri nt by 32%. First e lected i n 2006, Ma rsha ll is now seeki ng a th i r d te r m on the City Counci l. 

## Stephen Mul key, 

## Ph

. D

. Pres i dent of Unity Co l lege , Unit y: Step he n Mulkey began serving as President of Un i ty College in July of 2011. From 2008 through 2011 he was a facu l ty member at the Unive rsi ty of Idaho an d served as director of the program in Environmental Science

. As director, he led an initiative obtaining National Science Foundation f unding f o r the creation of a new Professional Sc i ence Maste r's deg ree i n Natura l R eso u rc e s and Environ me nt al Scien ces. Wit h maj o r f un d i ng f rom NASA, he pre sent ly d i rects a stat ewi d e pro j ect focus ed on cli mate c ha nge ed uc ation. From 1996 to 2008 , Dr. Mul key se rve d as t e nu red facu l ty in t h e Univers ity of Fl orida's Depa rtm en t of Botany and as a resea rch associ ate wit h the Sc h oo l of F orest Res o urces an d C onserva t ion. He al so ser v ed as Director of R

esearch and Out r each/ E xte nsion fo r the Sch oo l of Natura l R eso u rces and Environm e nt a t the Un ivers ity of F l orida, an d as science advi sor to the C entury C o mm ission for a Susta i nab l e F lorida. Dr. Mulkey co -founded and di rected the I nternat i onal Center for Tr opical Ecology , a nat ionally ranked g raduate t r ai n i ng and conservation p r og ram during his tenure at t h e U niversity of Missouri i n St

. Louis. H e also worked for many years as a resea r ch associate f or th e Smi t hson i an Inst i tu ti o n , Trop i cal Rese arc h In s t itute

. Dr. M ulk ey ho lds a bachelor' s degree in f isheries an d w il d li fe, a m aster's d e gre e in e c ology, a nd ear n ed his Ph D in ecology from the University of P e n nsylvania in 1986. As a scho l ar of the i nt erd i sci pl in ary li te ratu r e in clim ate chan ge and susta i na bility, Dr. Mu l key is an acti ve pub l ic i nte r preter of cli m ate change science. Hi s curre n t res earch f oc uses on the rol e o f land sca p e carb on stocks in cl im ate m i t i gatio n

. 

## Buck O'He ri n, 

## Sheepscot Wellspr i ng Land All i ance and registered guide , Montville: Buck O'Herin was the f i rst E xecu ti ve Di rector of the Sheepscot We ll sp ring Land All i ance (SWLA} from 2006-2011 after serving on its Board f rom 1999-2006, and again p resently . Buck has a M

. S

. in E nvironmental E ducation and a B.S

. in Secondary E ducation

. He h as taught for t h e National Au d ubon Society Exp e dit i on I nstitute, Unity Co llege, Ste r li ng College and Th e Co m munity School in Camden , Maine. He is a Maine Guide and an avid backpacker and canoe i st. He l ives i n M o ntvi ll e w ith his partner and daughter. 

## Tony Owens, 

## M.D

. emergency room physician , Cape Elizabe t h : Dr

. Owens i s a b oard cert i f i ed emergency phys i cian with ove r 30 years of pract i c e exp erience in Maine

. He is an active membe r of the Emergen c y Depar t ment facu lty at Maine Medical Center and i s an associate prof essor of Emergency Medicine at Tuf t s University School of Medicine. He has degrees from Dar t mou t h and the Un iversity of Ci n cinnati. As a n amateur natu ralist, Tony i s a voluntee r with Maine Audubon's Vernal Poo l Monitoring and Owl Survey programs. He is plant conservation volunteer w ith New England Wi l dflower Society and a former trustee of Hurricane Island Ou t ward Bou n d and Th e Natu re Conse rvancy. 

## Peggy Pe nn oyer, 

## M

. D

. allergy and as thma speciali s t , Scarborough. Dr

. Pennoye r i s a physician i n Portland sp eciali zing in A llergy, Asth ma an d Im muno l ogy fo r 2 5 yea rs. She re ceived h er deg ree f ro m the Columbia U n ive r sity Co ll ege of Phys i cians and Su rgeons. Dr. Pen n oye r is a memb e r of the American Lung Associat ion in Maine's Leaders h ip Board and a membe r of Ma i ne' s Health y Air Coalition , a coalition of rough ly 40 organizations committed to clean, health air. She i s a Board member of Friends of the Scarborough Marsh , and a mot he r of t hree. 

## Mark Power, 

## commercial energy efficiency engineer , Trane , Portland: M ark is th e L eade r of the Trane Energy Se rvi ces Team serv in g Mai n e an d New H ampsh ire . He works with facil ity owne rs and ope rato rs t o d eve l o p co mp rehensive energy ret rofit p roj ects t h at ac hieve en ergy co nser vation a n d op erat i o n al sav in gs

. His team p rov i des not on ly the t echn i ca l expert ise requ i red to identify and to deve l op co mp lex ene rgy retrofit projec t s; but t h ey al so provi d e assistance with project f i nan ci ng and incent ives to allow bui l d i ng owners t o achieve their c o nservation objectives. A Ma i ne Marit i me Graduate and Licen sed Chief Engineer, Ma r k has 25 years of experie n ce i n commercial and i ndustria l p lant operatio ns and maintenance as well as design experience in mar i ne and mechan i ca l engineer in g. He previously was an enginee r fo r Bath Iron Works among others. He is a Li censed Professional Eng in eer in t h e State of Ma in e. 

## Steve Rowe, 

## former Maine Attorney General, New Gloucester: Steve ser ved eight years as Maine's Att orney Ge n e ra l a nd two years as Spea k e r of t he Ma ine Hous e of R ep resentat ives. As a pub li c servan t , S t eve earned a re pu tat i on for achieving resu lt s

. He l ed successf u l effo rts to increase h ea lt h ca re access, enforce en vi ro n menta l laws and reform mortgage lending prac t ices. As Maine's Attorney Genera l , he was pa rty t o several lawsuits seeki n g to require the use of the Cl ea n Air Act to address cl i mate change. Steve i s a West Point gradua te and for m er A r my offi cer w h o is known fo r his s t rong work ethic, integrity and t enacity

. His broad background i nc l udes service as a litigation counsel for a major insurance company and marketing manager for a major manufacturi ng company. Steve h as chosen t o focus much of his cur rent wo r k as Counsel at Verrill Dana on providing m ediation servi ces to parties in di spute. Out side the offi ce, Steve vo l untee rs i n areas such as ea r ly ch ildhood education, domestic violence preventio n and substance abuse prevention

. For recreation, Steve enjoys camping and h i k ing w i th his wife, Amanda

.

# MAINE**VO CES**  

# Limit C02 emissions to save Maine oceans

The absorption of the gas by the ocean makes seawater more acidic and less hospitable to seafood populations.

STANDISH- In recent years, carbon dioxide gas has received a lot of attention.

The biggest source ofC02 comes from fossil fuel combustion, which cont ributes more than 13 trillion pounds to the atmosphere annually. C02 traps h eat, and so this increase in atmospheric C02 is the reason that Earth's average temperature is warming.

Ifthis warming trend continues, average temperatures will continue to rise at least an additional2 to 8 degrees in the next 90 years, and Maine's climate will be similar to that ofMaryland and Virginia. Those 100.. plus-degree day s oflast summer will one day not look so bad

.

Unfortunately, scientists now recognize that a warming planet is only one consequence of our addiction to foss il fuel energy and all the C02 that it produces when burned.

Because C02 dissolves readily in \ltater, nearly 25 percent of what is released to the atmosphere each year is absorbed by the world's oceans.

For decades , scientists assumed that humankind had benefited from this "oceanic" C02 absorption, and indeed we have, as warming on land has undoubtedly been slowed as a result. However, we now know that you can't dissolve nearly 21 million metric tons of excess C02 into the ocean each day and not have some radical chemical changes.

Itis now universally recognized throughout the oceanographic community that the absorption of all this C02 by the ocean (550 billion tons and counting) has resulted in a decrease in pH and changes in seawater chemistry, a phenomenon that collectively is referred to as "ocean acidification."

Wben C02 dissolves in water, it produces carbonic acid. From the Pacific waters ofHawaii, to the Atlantic waters of Bermuda and the Canary Islands, to the Arctic waters ofAntarctica, humans have lowered the pH of the ocean by 0.1 units in the last 100 years.

Wbile such a decrease may seem 

## ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Green is a professor of marine science at Saint Joseph ' s Co ll e ge i n Stan dish. small, the way pH is measured means that thi s change actually represents a 30 percent increase in acidity

. Without targeted reduction in C02 emission s soon, the acid conten t of the ocean will increase by more than 300 percent in the neA-t 50 to 75 years.

The increase in seawa ter C02 and the corresponding decrease in pH are occurring at a rate not experienced in the ocean for at least 60 million years. The ocean as we know it will change drastically

- and indeed, it already is changing.

Microscopic animals known as pteropods , food for young salmon and whales alike, are dissolving in cold

water regions ofthe ocean
. Experiments show that sma ll lobsters have significant loss of shell strength when exposed to acidified seawater , making them more vulnerable to predators.

Coral reefs are literally dissolving and will likely not survive past 2100. In areas ofthe Pacific Northwest, shellfish hatcheries are failing and there has not been a natural set of oysters in years because ofcorrosive seawater. Although ocean acidification has been recognized for about a decade, there are hundreds of peerreviewed publications showing the deleterious effects on flora and fauna ofthe sea. A fisherman motors h is ski ff ou t t o a l o bster boat

. C02 dissolves in seawa t er, producing ac id that lesse n s th e st rength of s mall lo b sters' shells and makes them more vulnerab l e to predators.

2012 File Photo/ The Associated PrQS& The state of Maine is as tightly coupled to the sea as any place on Earth. The shellfish industry alone generates more than $50 million annually and employs approximately 3,000 harvesters and dealers. In 2011, Maine lobster landings exceeded 100 million pounds, valued at more than $330 million.

Still, the effects of ocean acidifica

tion are starting to be seen in Maine

. From corrosive seawater to acidic mud, Maine is ell:periencing the early signs of acidification. Access to an ocean capable of sustaining healthy seafood populations is critical for Maine families and is
·necessary to pres erve the rich heritage and coupled history that Mainers have with the ocean.

Maine residents need to support the efforts ofthe Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon emissions from new power plants. The**EP~s** recently announced New Source Performance Standard will limit C02 emissions from newly constructed power plants. These standar ds are critical to addressing climate change and saving the oceans
.

Ocean acidification is an undisputed fact that cannot be ignored and is a oowerful reason to reduce C02 emissions, especially here in Maine

. Therefore, I urge Maine's congressional delegation to support the**EP~s** new carbon rule and not to support attempts to delay or block it in Congress

.

- Speci al to t he Tel eg r am

### 6angor Daily News; 

### Tuesday, April17, 2012, OpEd A5


### STEVE ROWE 

# Support for carbon rule follows Maine,s .lead 

# D uri.ngmyserviceasMaine's attorney general, I fl.led several l awsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency because of its fail

ure 

### to take action under the Clean Air Act to 

### reduce emissions of climate· changing pollutants

.



### In 2003, Maine and 

### 10 other s tates joined withMassachusetts to challenge the EPA:s ruling that 

### it lacked legal authority under the Clean Air Act to r egulat e heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. We eventually won.

Thi s 

### month , Maine and the nation celebrate the fifth 

### anniversary of that landmark decision.

The case, Massachusetts v. 

### -EPA, remains one
.of the most significant e nv ironmental decisions rendered by th e U.S. Supreme Court. The court directed the EPA to decide whether carbon dioxide and ot her greenhou se gas emissions were pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The decision ultimately forced the EPA to regulate thos e emissions. This occurred at a t i me when pressure from large corporate polluters prevented Congress from tackling carbon emis

s ions.

Coincidentally; earlier this month , despite intense pressure from those same polluters

- most from the coal indus try -t he EPA announced a new rule that would place the first nation

wide limits on carbon pollution from new power plants. This is an essential step to protect the health of tbe American people as well as our nation's en' vii:-onment and economy.

The new rule is not th e only essen- tial 

### step, howevm: At some point soon, the EPA will need to lake action to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants as
.well. Aftet
· all, existing plants represent the largest source of heat

-trapping pollution in the United States.

Each and ever y year, power plants emit more than 2 billion tons of dangerous carbon and other pollutants into the air. The buildup of this pollu- .tion creates warmer temperatures. Warmer temperatures increase the risk · of harmful smog levels. More

·smog means more chronic respiratory problems, asthma attacks and se
. rious complications for people with lung disease
.

Unquest ionabl y; children face the highest rislt. Each year, thousands of Maine children experience asthma attacks. Because infants and children generally breathe more rapidly than adults, they have a higher rate of exp osure to pollutants in the air

. More, ove1; because children's immnne systems and organs a r e nnt 

### mature, they are more susceptible to the deleterious health effects of air pollution, including reduction in lung function and oU1er perm anent damage.

other adverse health effects associ

ated with c limate change and warmer temperatures include an increase in 

### waterborne diseases as well as animal-borne diseases such as I,yme dis

### ease and West Nile virus. Due to increasing temperatures and changes in

. rainfall patterns, mosquitoes, ticks and other disease carriers survive wanner winters and expand their range , bringing health threa t s with them.



### By issuing the rule with new power

·plant carbon emission standards,

. the EPA is

. simply doing its job under the

·Clean 

### Air Act. Reducing harmful emissions and holding polluters accountable is wh11t Americans want and need the agency to do

.

- Together with new clean car standards that will cut pollution. from new vehicles nearly in half by 2025 (while· helping reb uild the Amei"ican auto 

### in

- dustry and reducing g<jsoline costs) , the new power plant standards will make significant reductions in 

### harmful 

### carbon pollution that threatens public health and causes climate change.

When Sen. Ed Muskie le d the creation of the Clean t\ir Act inore than four decades ago, he did not believe that government should compromise either on setting st.andaxds 

### for environ

- mental protection 

### or on its responsibil

- ity 

### to achieve those stn ndarrl s. That's why 'he created a law that 

### set deadlines, required the us e of best available 

### tech

.. nology and established health-related 

### air quality 

### l evels

.

Through this monumental accom plislunent, Sen. Muskie 

### <'lefined the environment as a core value for the nation

. He believed that the air we breathe sho \Jld be clean enollgh to pro · teet the health of the mo st sensitive among us. He also b elieved that 

### no person or entity had 

### a
. "right:• to pollute.

It's good to know the EPA is on the job taking action consistent with the fund amental values expressed by 

### Sen. Muskie in the Clean 

### Air Act. Because of that action, th e health of people in Maine and throughout our nation will be**bett~r** 

### protected. · Steve Rowe served as**Maine ~~**  

### attorney

### general fmrn 2001 lo 

### 2009.