Comments on Carbon Pollution Standard for Modified Sources-- Docket ID EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0630 August 1, 2014 (3:20 PM), Pittsburgh, PA My name is Bob Mitchell. As a scientist and engineer with graduate degrees in physics and electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, I have studied the climate change issue with increasing interest overthe past five years. Iwill briefly address three main points: First: The Role ofGovernment Our nation is founded on the principle of balancing individual freedom ofaction on one hand against the need for effective national governance on the other hand. We do notwant excessive governmentthat intrudes on individual liberties- but neither could we acceptthe weak government created by the Articles ofConfederation following victory in the Revolutionary War. And so the founders ofour nation produced a constitution that established a strengthened governmentthat seeks to "provide forthe common defence, [and] promote the general Welfare". The founders recognized the need to address national level priorities such as defense that require large resources and long-term strategic planningthey understood that individuals, corporations, oreven states cannot effectively deal with such resources ortimescales.

Second: The Threat of Climate Change We are nowfacing a problem that poses agreat challenge to ourgeneral welfare -and also, as we shall see, to our common defense. As the national and world scientific community has been telling us for more than two decades now, the emission ofinfrared active gases such as C02 is causing a range of harmful consequences. These consequences include: 1. Increasingly severe heat and drought as we saw in 2011 in the Midwestand are currently seeing in California 2. loss ofglaciers and mountain snowpack that provide waterfor drinking and irrigation 3. rising sea levelsthatthreaten manyofour coastal cities 4. more severe storms like Sandy that are amplified by higher sea level, and 5. acidification ofour oceans thatthreatens the root ofthe world'sfood chain. Each ofthese consequences alone is daunting- but, taken together, they represent atrulyfrightening threatto our national welfare and safety. The arctic icecap provides perhaps the clearest warning as its Septembervolume is only about 25% of what it was just 40 years ago. We knowthis from both satellite imagerythat shows ice extent and from our Navy's submarine sonar measurements ofice thickness dating back tothe 1950s. The "Northwest Passage" that explorers sought for centuries is nowa reality. Does anyone really believe thatthis could be a coincidence? And according tothe Defense Department's 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, "The pressures caused by climate change

.....are threat multipliersthat will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions- conditions that can enable terrorist activity and otherforms ofviolence."All ofthese consequences amount to nothing less than a war on our children, our grandchildren and the generations that follow. It is a moral imperative that we act to ensure that our descendants will have the same fair shot at prosperity and freedom that we have enjoyed. Third: Need for Government Leadership on Climate Change And so the government is acting now-- as the nation's founders intended-- to defend the general welfare ofthe nation against an ominous threat. This action is necessary because the threat involves timescales and resources that require a national level response. It is only fairto say thatthese actions will cause some to lose theirjobs. But ifwe don'ttake action now, many, many more will be harmed. And whilejobs will be lost in the coal and oil industries, manyjobs will be created in the renewable energy sector. Our nation has flourished, not by clinging to outmoded ideas or harmfultechnologies, but by harnessing our creativityto lead the world toward a safer and more prosperous future. The proposed EPA guidelines are asmall butvery importantstep toward addressing the most critical technical and ethical issue ofthis century. They represent the beginning ofwhat ourgovernment must do in confronting a problem thattranscends individual, corporate orstate capabilities- the founders of our nation would expect no less.

Robert R. Mitchell, PhD 3507 Mayer Drive Murrysville, PA 15668 rrmitchell350@gmail.com Others who have read and supportthis statement: Rebecca Studer Mary Schinhofen Raymond Schinhofen Rebecca Lubold Barbara Litt Scott Smith