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Docket No. EPA-HQ-2011-0660

Hello, everyone' My name is Christina Morgan, and I am from HamptonRoads, Virginia. I am currently a canvasser with the Fund for the Public Interest, working on grassroots campaigns for nonprofits such as EnvironmentAmerica.

Ihave spent my life feeling passionately aboutthe environment, and have studied and explored the natural world withjoy from my childhood. My undergraduate studies and research within biology and chemistry have given me an in-depth view ofmany aspects ofthe carbon cycle on planet Earth and the ways that humanactivities affect that cycle.

We are all here today essentially discussing those aspects ofthe carboncycle- the ways that humans, through theirpower plants in the U.S.A., for example, are shapingthe destiny and overall experience ofbillions ofpeople and countless numbers ofother organisms on the planet. For me, this issue boils downto one major concept: responsibility.

The planet is now more populated by human beings than ever before in recorded history. In tandem, ourbiosphere is more challenged by human impacts thanever before in Earth's history. Time ticks by, and we learn daily aboutthe ways that greenhouse gases and global warming affect our climate. News stories daily tell us the tales oflives destroyed through storms and illnesses that are expected to intensify as carbon release into the atmosphere through human activities continues and, tentatively. increases within the coming years.
At this point in the research and experience ofthe human species, we are at a cross-roads:
we know the facts, orat least many ofthem, and have found critical connections ofmajor greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide to phenomenon like global warming or climate change, and we are watching the effects ofclimate change unfold aroundus through weather andtemperature changes, ocean acidification, increased ground-level ozone pollution, and all oftheir dramatic effects on ourbiosphere.

When faced by these information and circumstances, Ifeel that the one choice that we have as a species is to stand up for the lives ofthe many, even ifit some times is a bit of inconvenience for the few. With knowledge comes great responsibility, and for the United States to finally adopt and enforce standards for powerplant carbon emissions. with power plants leading the way in ournation for anthropogenic sources ofcarbon release,
we would truly be acting appropriately in response to the knowledge that we possess on this subject. Personally, it would make me more proudto be anAmerican. 

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My family and Ihave evacuated numerous times from powerful nor'easters and hurricanes and felt the impacts oftheir winds and floodwaters onourhomes and communities. The older I get, the more Imeet youth withrespiratory problems and asthmatied to air pollution. Ihave watched as the view in many ofmy favorite "natural spots" inVirginiahas beenobscured by smog and grey-green haze. As a marine scientist.--------------------------------

Ihave been horrified to learn about the ways that ocean-acidification threatens our marine life worldwide. In particular, howphytoplankton (the producers ofmost ofthe world's oxygen and foundational components to the world's marine ecosystems) are threatenedby increasingly acidic oceans. as createdby more carbon dioxide diffusing into Earth's waters.

I am not prepared to witness humans fail to acknowledge their role in conserving species and habitats for humans and non-humans worldwide. Rather, Iam ready to seeAmerica take responsibility for its anthropogenic sources ofcarbon release into the atmosphere, and. so, I support the EPA's proposed standard for carbonpollution from new power plants, and I urge the agency to move forward with finalizing these standards this year. I also urge the EPA to move quickly to develop standards for existing power plants, bringing ournation notably more up-to-date in meeting our biological requirements for reduced carbon emissions from such industry.

Thankyou all for your time and efforts on these causes, and here's to a long-lived, healthy planet Earth for countless generations ofcreatures yet to come'