Citizens from PA, OH, WV show overwhelming support for EPA methane rule at public hearing

Concerned parents, public health advocates, faith leaders, students, and environmentalists from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia applauded the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rule to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry at a public hearing held by the agency in downtown Pittsburgh on September 29. Media outlets including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Harrisburg Patriot-News, Observer-Reporter (Washington County), and StateImpact PA covered the hearing.

Rob Altenburg, director of the PennFuture Energy 
Center, testifies at the EPA hearing alongside 
Energy Policy Analyst Jennie Demjanick

The agency's hearing in Pittsburgh was one of three held across the U.S., with the other two in Denver and Dallas the previous week. Citizens packed two hearing rooms at the William S. Moorhead Federal Building, where many spoke in support of the federal rule as they encouraged the administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to do more to rein in these harmful emissions. Testifiers in support of the rule outnumbered those against, 92-2. Testimony by PennFuture Energy Center director, Rob Altenburg, can be found on our website.

The proposed rules seek to cut methane emissions 40 to 45 percent by 2025, from 2012 levels. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas – up to 84 times more so than CO2 in the first 20 years after its release into the atmosphere. The oil and gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane pollution in the nation. Methane emissions combine with toxic co-pollutants to form ground-level ozone, or smog, which leads to negative health impacts including asthma, lung and heart disease - illnesses that disproportionately affect children, the elderly, and under-served populations.

“The EPA's proposed methane rules are a good first step but Pennsylvania can and must do more to reduce this harmful pollution,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of PennFuture. “Pennsylvania needs to adopt its own best-in-the-nation standards to cover both new and existing sources of emissions from the thousands of oil and gas wells in our state. We should use this momentum to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon, clean energy future – our children's futures depend on it.”

PennFuture CEO Larry Schweiger testifies at EPA hearing

“Strong rules that mandate a reduction in methane will mitigate climate change and help improve air quality and public health,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., executive director of Clean Air Council. “EPA’s efforts are a good first step that will provide a backstop to safeguard public health and clean our air using technologies that already exist. At the same time, the rules will not tackle the thousands of tons of methane pollution currently leaking from Pennsylvania’s expansive gas industry because they will only apply to new or modified gas facilities while expecting voluntary cooperation from operators of existing sources. Pennsylvania needs to act quickly to address both new sources of methane pollution as well as existing natural gas infrastructure. As the second-largest natural gas producing state in the nation, we will accept nothing less.”

“As a registered nurse and health care professional, the EPA's proposed methane rules will aid in primary prevention to reduce asthma and other respiratory illnesses which are exacerbated by harmful methane emissions and their toxic co-pollutants,” said Dr. Peggy Berry, PhD., MSN, RN. “The fight for improved health is one we are waging actively in my state, Ohio, and throughout the region and country. It's time for the oil and gas industry to clean up its act and stop jeopardizing the health and welfare of our communities and landscapes. As registered nurses and health care professionals, we thank the EPA for taking this step in the right direction.”

Sr. Donna Zwigart speaks at #CutMethane rally

"Our leaders must continue the transition to truly clean, renewable energy that is already taking place,” said Sr. Donna Zwigart of the Sisters of St. Francis. “In the meantime, a strong, unwavering commitment from Gov. Tom Wolf and our elected leaders including Sen. Bob Casey to forcefully tackle both carbon and methane pollution is the kind of action that will show Pope Francis that Pennsylvania means business and will lead the fight against climate change.”

"The youth across the nation and world are addressing our governments and leaders – now, loudly,” said Sage Lincoln, student activist at the University of Pittsburgh. “You cannot leave us gasping for breath amid polluted air. You cannot let our fears become reality. The time to act in Pennsylvania, and nationally, is now. As we support the EPA's methane rules, the youth ask Gov. Tom Wolf to lead in Pennsylvania with the strongest state methane rules possible. It is OUR future that is in the hands of our leaders and they must not delay.”

The EPA will be accepting public comment on the proposed methane rule through November 18.

Elaine Labalme is strategic campaigns director for PennFuture and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets @NewGirlInTown.

A robust effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania

Recognizing the opportunities that a new governor in Pennsylvania can embark upon, PennFuture staff analyzed and evaluated potential environmental, conservation and energy policy actions that Gov. Tom Wolf can take or initiate, most within the first 100 days of his administration. We've called it A Fresh Start for Pennsylvania: 26 steps that Governor Wolf can take to improve Pennsylvania's environment and economy.

The 26 policy recommendations variously address stormwater management, well constructions standards, and green building standards, among other issues. This post is a synopsis of our recommendation to reduce carbon pollution.

Make robust efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Recommendation

Governor Wolf should make climate change a priority for not only the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), but for the entire administration. This vital work needs to be bolstered and elevated in profile. The Wolf administration should immediately commence its climate planning and greenhouse gas reduction efforts in conjunction with the forthcoming requirements of the Pennsylvania Climate Change Act and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan.

A robust state climate policy will make our economy more energy efficient, saving our citizens money. Reducing carbon pollution also reduces smog, ozone, and other traditional air pollutants.

Recent modeling from our grid operator PJM has shown that a multi-state approach to reducing carbon pollution can be as much as 30 percent less expensive than a state specific plan. For this reason, the administration should investigate joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) or a similar organization. This would not only simplify compliance with federal requirements, it would also bring money into the state that could support additional programs to reduce carbon pollution.

Because increases in energy efficiency will return money directly to consumers while lowering carbon pollution, Pennsylvania should focus on achievable efficiency measures. This could include building on the success of existing efficiency programs such as Pennsylvania’s Act 129, bringing our building codes up to current standards and promoting energy efficiency financing programs such as Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC), Keystone HELP, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), and on-bill finance programs.

In addition to efficiency, Pennsylvania could do more to encourage renewable energy. While Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) program made the state an early leader, nearby states have since set higher targets for clean and renewable energy. By renewing its leadership in this field, Pennsylvania would create more jobs, lower energy prices, and reduce not just carbon pollution but protect public health by reducing air toxics, water pollution, and waste.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director. She is based in Philadelphia and tweets @joybergey.

2014 -- the hottest year ever. Or, at a minimum, in a long, long time.

Nope, it wasn't just our imagination, or the power of suggestion. NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has confirmed that "the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880." (And although Pennsylvanians may think of last year as mild because of our relatively easy summer, recall that California and the west suffered a brutal weather year.)

Six months in 2014 set new records for warmth: May, June, August, September, October and December. October tied for record warmest.

If you are not convinced that looking at just one year, or five months within that year, shows a significant change, then how about this: 19 of the 20 warmest years on record have occurred in the past 20 years. The 10 warmest years on record have occurred after 2002 (with the exception of 1998).


With all this bad news, are we making any serious progress with those who run the financial and business sectors of our economy? An encouraging sign is this recent quote about climate change in Fortune magazine: "The investment community... has woken up to this threat. It is demanding more information from companies about their exposure to climate events, as well as the prospective cost of their carbon emissions.”

Are we making progress in Congress? Perhaps a tiny little bit. Last week, more than 60 senators agreed that climate change is real and is caused by human activity. Sad as it as, this represents serious forward movement over the past decade. But we have to move faster.

The bright spots in federal leadership remain the Obama Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In last week's State of the Union address, the President said much about the issue, including this: "The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we'll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it."

The EPA has taken action by proposing rules to limit global warming pollution from any new and existing  fossil fuel-fired power plants and new and modified oil and gas wells. A good start, but we need federal and state governments to do so much more. We inch toward progress while the temperatures race up the scale.

Every decision maker needs to feel the heat (literally and figuratively) to act now.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @joybergey.

Eight million strong are demanding action on climate change

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially closed the public comment period on December 1 on their proposed standard to limit carbon pollution from existing (think "dirty old") power plants. This follows closely on the heels of another proposed standard from EPA that would limit carbon pollution from not-yet-built power plants.

It's great news that more than 8,000,000 Americans weighed in officially in support of these two proposed standards. There are so many reasons to support EPA on this: Concern about our children's future and everyone's health; worries about the economic devastation caused by ever-increasing extreme weather events; threats to national security; fear for wild animals and wild places; and more.

PennFuture's senior energy analyst, Rob Altenburg, an expert in federal and state legislation, did a great job explaining the human side of regulations in an interview he gave to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this week.

Our staff gathered on December 1 alongside dozens of volunteers at EPA's Region III headquarters in Philadelphia to thank the agency for its great work, specifically on the proposed carbon pollution limits. Susan Saxe, a volunteer with the Philadelphia chapter of Pa. Interfaith Power and Light, baked an apple pie as a thank-you to EPA staff, because...protecting the environment is as American as apple pie!

"Kudos and Cookies" (led by Susan Saxe) baked a pie for the EPA.

Joy Bergey is federal policy director for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @joybergey.

Sooty Linings Playbook -- brought to you by our frenemy, ALEC

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the innocuously-named American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC, funded by huge corporate polluters and their deep-pocketed friends like the Koch brothers, has developed a playbook to get anti-environmental laws passed in state legislatures across the land.

The strategy starts with developing model bills that can be shared with legislators, who then introduce them in state capitols. (See the Center for Media Democracy's very helpful website, ALEC Exposed.)

ALEC is shameless about how little concern they have for the public good. They ferociously attack the idea that the country should begin to limit CO2 emissions, as shown in their EPA's Regulatory Train Wreck: Strategies for State Legislators.

This struck home all too painfully this month, when the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed (and Governor Tom Corbett signed) H.B. 2354, which we like to call the Stall on Carbon bill. Coal interests carried the day in Harrisburg to get this awful bill passed. Its aim is to interfere to the maximum extent possible with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed standard to limit CO2 emissions from coal-burning power plants.

The EPA proposal offers each state abundant flexibility in meeting its state-specific targets. Ironically, H.B. 2354 could backfire on its supporters by ultimately forcing the Commonwealth to forfeit all its flexibility under the rule and forcing the EPA to impose a top-down plan on Pennsylvania. It's embarrassing that so many of our state legislators who supported this terrible bill seem not to have thought this all through in advance.

Unlike Hollywood's playbook, which so easily brings us silver linings, we in Pennsylvania may be stuck with a sooty lining thanks to our frenemy, ALEC.
                  
P.S. Want to see which fossil fuels giants are straddling the fence, claiming to care about climate change but are still part of ALEC? HuffPo sums it up nicely.

Joy Bergey is federal policy director for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @joybergey.

Even the grand old guys know we have to cut carbon

Those of us who have been adults for several decades remember the sway that big accounting firms used to have in the business world. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is one of those well-respected names that can still turn heads when they speak.

PwC just issued its 2014 Low Carbon Economy Index.

Not good news. To quote the report, "For the sixth year running, the global economy has missed the decarbonization target needed to limit global warming to 2 degrees C."

To stay on track for the two-degree-max target, we would have had to cut our carbon emissions by 6 percent in 2013. How did the world do? A miserable 1.2 percent decrease.

Last year's lapse means we now need to speed up even more to achieve the goal, specifically cutting carbon by 6.2 percent in 2014—five times last year's rate. Doesn't seem likely, does it?

To be sure, these are global measurements and projections. But is Pennsylvania doing its part? This is an especially painful question at the moment, given the horrendous step backward that the our General Assembly has just taken: They passed H.B. 2354, which throws a monkey wrench into the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposal to limit CO2 from coal-burning power plants in Pennsylvania, the major source of carbon pollution in this country.

Read what Mother Jones has to say about PwC's bad news.


Joy Bergey is federal policy director for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @joybergey.

Come to Harrisburg on September 25 and tell the Corbett administration what you think

As we wrote last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which reports to Governor Tom Corbett, is holding a public listening session in Harrisburg on Thursday, September 25. All are welcome to testify -- that means you! (You can register to testify by contacting Tammey Adams,  taadams at pa.gov or 717-772-2725.)

Anyone and everyone should consider testifying. You can represent yourself, an organization, your faith community, your family, or any group for which you speak.

What would you say in your testimony?

Start by introducing yourself and saying where you live. State the name of the organization you represent and what they do, if you're speaking on their behalf. State that you are fully supportive of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed carbon pollution standard, and that you want it to be implemented promptly and without being weakened in any way.

Continue by offering a sentence or two about why you care about action on climate change. For example, "My cousins lost their home on the Jersey shore to Hurricane Sandy, and unchecked climate change will only bring us more and more superstorms." Or perhaps, "My children (or grandchildren) deserve as safe and stable a future as we can possible leave them, and climate change works against that." You get the picture.

And if you're as frustrated as we are with the Corbett administration's wrong-headed approach to climate change, help yourself to our take on this -- see below.

Next, it would be helpful to list some facts and figures about climate change. See below for a bunch of those that you can use. Finish up by reiterating your support for the proposed standard, and thanking the Commonwealth for the opportunity to be heard.

You have up to 15 minutes to speak, but feel no compunction to use the allotted time. A short and punchy 500 words would be terrific. Our advice in a nutshell? Speak to the issues that resonate most deeply with you.

Suggestions for inclusion in your testimony

 

Concerns that Commonwealth is not taking climate change seriously

• PennFuture is greatly concerned that neither the Governor nor the Commonwealth are seriously engaging around the threats of climate change, nor is the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) doing its job to develop a viable plan to meet the EPA's target.

Specifically:

• Governor Corbett has publicly stated that he believes there is still significant debate in the scientific community about the existence and risks of human-made climate change.
• The Governor has appointed various climate deniers or skeptics to high-level energy and environment positions, such as his first Secretary of DEP and the Governor’s Energy Executive.
• Governor Corbett has signed a letter to President Obama asking him to rescind EPA’s carbon rule, and a second letter questioning the legality of the rule. He has expressed concerns over the economic impacts of the rule.
• The DEP has issued one white paper for carbon rule compliance that it admits would not be accepted by EPA (see testimony of DEP Deputy Secretary Vince Brisini at 14:20 of the video). The substance of the white paper also seems consistent with Gov. Corbett’s legal arguments against the rule, requesting major pollution control exemptions for dirty coal plants.
• Governor Corbett’s actions seem more consistent with climate denial then with responsible leadership that aims to balance public health with economic realities.
• We are concerned that the DEP and Gov. Corbett do not believe that cost-effective energy efficiency at homes and businesses should play a role in carbon rule compliance. The Pa. Public Utility Commission found that for every $1 spent on efficiency in Pennsylvania, ratepayers receive $3 back in benefits.
• PJM, the operator of the electricity grid that serves Pennsylvania, found that the grid can increase renewable energy to twenty-to-thirty percent of electricity supply while reducing wholesale electricity prices by $9-to-$20 billion, all while maintaining a reliable grid. However, we are troubled that the Governor and DEP do not believe renewable energy has a role to play in carbon rule compliance.
• We are concerned that the DEP will present comments to EPA that do not represent a good faith effort to comply with the proposed rule, will undervalue the need to reduce carbon pollution, and will discount our public health and the economic benefits of addressing climate change.

Some climate change facts, figures, and arguments

• Carbon pollution causes climate change, resulting in more frequent and increasingly violent extreme weather events, drought, sea level rise and other stressors that devastate communities, threaten public health, and destroy and degrade wildlife habitat.
• Globally, we’ve now had 354 consecutive months above the long-term average, meaning a 29-year-old has never lived through a “cooler than normal” month.
• Wildfires, floods and extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall are becoming more frequent and more severe. These changes are happening in the evolutionary blink of an eye. This hurts our public health, our economy, and our natural environment. 
• Pennsylvania creates more heat-trapping emissions than all but two other states, Texas and California, each of which have much larger populations.
• Pennsylvania creates nearly one percent of the world's total heat-trapping emissions, far disproportionate to our population.
• The EPA is using its authority, granted by a bipartisan vote of Congress, signed by a Republican president [Nixon], and confirmed by a conservative-leaning Supreme Court [the Roberts Court], to set standards for industrial carbon pollution from power plants, which threatens public health.
• Setting reasonable carbon pollution standards for power plants will cut the primary driver of climate change, which fuels extreme weather that threatens communities and public health with increasing costs and worsening impacts.
• Big polluters want to continue to dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air for free instead of adopting reasonable carbon pollution safeguards that protect public health by slowing climate change. That’s wrong.

The Public Health Impacts

• From the American Lung Association:"Climate change and ozone scientists warn that the buildup of greenhouse gases and the climate changes caused by this will create conditions, including warmer temperatures, which will increase the risk of unhealthful ambient [ground level] ozone levels...Even with the steps that are in place to reduce ozone, evidence warns that changes in climate will likely increase future ozone levels in large parts of the U.S. To protect human health, the nation needs strong measures to reduce climate change and ozone."
• From the 2014 National Climate Assessment: "Climate change, as well as increased CO2 by itself, can contribute to increased production of plant-based allergens...Higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons can increase allergic sensitizations and asthma episodes and diminish productive work and school days. Simultaneous exposure to toxic air pollutants can worsen allergic responses. Even rainfall and rising temperatures can foster indoor air quality problems, including the growth of indoor fungi and molds, with increases in respiratory and asthma-related conditions." 
• Also from the 2014 National Climate Assessment: "Extreme heat events are the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S. Many cities, including Philadelphia, have suffered dramatic spikes in death rates during heat waves...Heat waves are also associated with increased hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders."  
• Clean Air Task Force provides terrific information at the level of counties and power plants for every state, including Pennsylvania. Click here and then click on Pennsylvania on the map.

The Economic Impacts

• Between 1970 and 2006, U.S. GDP grew by 195 percent, even though we had Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Air Act regulations that significantly cut carbon monoxide, smog pollution, acid rain, and toxic pollutants such as lead.
• Setting limits on the carbon pollution causing climate change will spur investment and innovation in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies. The real economic risk is inaction. From 2011 to 2013 alone, damages from extreme weather events have exceeded $200 billion. Imagine how huge a cleanup bill we’d be handing our children and grandchildren if we fail to act now.

See you in Harrisburg on September 25? Hope so.

PennFuture will be hosting a climate rally in the Capitol Rotunda at 10 a.m. on September 25. Join us!

Thanks so much for your interest in this critical issue. Hope to see you at the listening session.

Joy Bergey is federal policy director for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @joybergey. You can meet her on September 25 in Harrisburg, where she'll be testifying.

Sept 25: Tell the Corbett administration your views on carbon pollution from power plants

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced a listening session to hear what the public thinks of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed standard to limit carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants:

         Thursday, Sept. 25, starting at 9:00 a.m.
         333 Market Street
         Harrisburg, PA

Anyone can speak; you need to register by Monday, Sept. 22. To do so, contact:
         Tammey Adams
         taadams@pa.gov
         717-772-2725

We're sorry to report that the DEP, under the Corbett administration, has been much more negative than we would have wanted in response to the EPA's proposal to limit CO2 from dirty, old, coal-fired power plants, the source of 40 percent of this nation's carbon pollution. This specific proposal is part of President Obama's Clean Power Plan, which PennFuture supports.

You don't need to be an expert on energy or climate change to testify. You simply need to be a citizen concerned about the future we're leaving our kids.

PennFuture will post talking points available for use at the DEP listening session next week -- stay tuned.

Register soon! And please let me know if you've registered so we can connect in Harrisburg on Sept. 25.

Speak out now -- it matters. Really.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director. She's based in Philadelphia, but will be in Harrisburg on September 25. Look for her there.

Hunting and fishing in a changing climate

Roughly 14 million Americans hunt and an additional 33 million fish every year. For many people, these activities are a lifelong passion that allows them to connect with the outdoors and to continue family traditions. Modern wildlife management, funded in part by sportsmen and women through excise taxes and stamp fees, has maintained healthy populations of many game species for decades.

Unfortunately, climate change is threatening long-standing hunting and fishing traditions, and our outdoor experience. Here in Pennsylvania, many species are on the front lines of the climate change battle. The brook trout, an economically and culturally important species, requires clean, cold, waters to thrive, but their populations will decline with a warming climate. The black duck, whose populations are already low, will lose important nesting sites due to sea level rise; and seagrass lost due to sea level rise will be devastating for species like the American Wigeon, northern pintail, canvasback, and the black duck that rely on this aquatic vegetation for food.

In the National Wildlife Federation’s recent report:-Ticked Off: America’s Outdoor Experience and Climate Change, the threat to moose is clear. Climate change is helping winter tick populations explode thanks to less snow, late onset winters, and earlier springs. Winter ticks have a completely different lifecycle than deer ticks and parasitize their host during the winter. In Minnesota, some moose have been found with 50,000-70,000 winter ticks -- 10-20 times more than normal. This leads to severe anemia, loss of hair due to scratching and rubbing that leaves the moose vulnerable to the cold and, ultimately, death. This increased mortality has led to fewer hunting permits being issued in Maine and New Hampshire, and in Minnesota, the season is closed entirely due to rapid population declines.

These impacts to wildlife are terrible, but there are actions we can take to mitigate the harms of climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took a historic step with its Clean Power Plan, which limits carbon pollution from the nation’s largest source: power plants. Supporting this plan and urging states to implement the plan can help protect wildlife for the next generation.

Jennifer Quinn is central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Harrisburg. She tweets @QuinnJen1.

We rocked it in Pittsburgh last week!

The EPA came to Pittsburgh on July 31 and August 1, and it was a really big deal.

The agency has proposed a standard for limiting carbon pollution from power plants -- the source of 40 percent of such pollution in this country.

PennFuture's CEO Cindy Dunn speaks at Clean
Power Plan press conference and rally

PennFuture was honored to be asked to take the lead in organizing support for the hearing in Pittsburgh. Along with our environmental partners, including Sierra Club, we helped mobilize hundreds of citizens from several states who came to town to express their own reasons for supporting the EPA's action to cut carbon pollution from the filthiest old coal-burning plants across the country -- especially here in Pennsylvania.

PennFuture -- with the support of our members and friends -- turned out in a big way to weigh in with the EPA. Since we've blogged before about why the science compels us to act, this time around I'll share some of the personal observations of our staff.

• Our own CEO and president (and avid outdoorsperson) Cindy Dunn spoke at the press conference on July 31 about the need to act. Upon her return to Harrisburg, she shared this reflection: "It was gratifying to see so many partners come together for an urgent and necessary cause. It renews my faith that people of good will can give of their time and pull together for the critical issue of climate change."

• Jennifer Quinn, our central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator, organized a bus of activists who made the round-trip to Pittsburgh. Jen says, "I was amazed and heartened to see the large number of people who woke up very early, traveled great distances and, in many cases, gave up a vacation day to go to Pittsburgh and tell the EPA why the proposed carbon pollution limits are important to them and their families."

• Rob Altenburg, PennFuture's senior energy analyst, was on Jen's bus that day. Rob delivered our rather technical testimony to the EPA, and listened to other testifiers while he was in town. Rob writes, "While there were many good technical points raised in the testimony I heard, I was most impressed by the personal stories of how air pollution impacts people. One speaker I heard was a mother (and grandmother) was so concerned with her family's health that she skipped the Aretha Franklin concert at the Ohio State Fair so she could drive in from Ohio to testify." 

• Valessa Souter-Kline, our southwest Pennsylvania outreach coordinator, was heavily involved in the hearings. Valessa observed that "one of the most striking aspects of the hearing was the breadth of testimony. Listening to so many people speak in support of this proposal brought new depth to the issues at stake and made it clear that there is public demand for action on climate change -- for human health, the economy and to protect the environment." 

If you'll indulge me, I'll share my own thoughts on why it was important for PennFuture to work so hard to make this hearing a success: now is the time to act.  It was in 1979 (when I was 24; I'll spare you the math: I'm 59 now) that I had my first interaction with someone who was already claiming that climate change was hogwash. I've been working to engage and educate people about the reality of climate change ever since. We weren't sure of the science in 1979, but even then, it seemed pretty clear we were headed for trouble.

What if the country had taken climate change seriously 35 years ago? We likely would have already transitioned to a clean energy economy, with fossil fuels and all their attendant woes in our distant past. Of course it's not too late to act, but if we done so even a decade ago, we would have avoided unnecessary illnesses and premature deaths. Furthermore, extensive loss of property due to extreme weather events and damage to wildlife and the oceans could have been prevented. Let's not keep hurting ourselves. 

I'm tired of waiting, which is why we applaud EPA and President Obama's Clean Power Plan.  That's why I devoted myself to getting so many people show up in Pittsburgh to tell the EPA it's time to #ActOnClimate. And they're listening!

P.S. If you haven't had the chance to tell the EPA that you support the rule, you can do so right now by clicking here. (EPA is accepting comments till October 16. But why wait?

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia.

June brought more than the summer solstice this year

It's not surprising, given the overwhelming evidence of a changing climate, but Think Progress's Joe Romm reports more warming news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). So, if you thought last month was hot, you're right: Overall, June 2014 was the hottest June since records were kept starting in 1880. Just for context on how far back we're going, James Garfield was elected president that year and Thomas Edison first patented the electric incandescent light. (Okay, and we know science has built upon that to provide even better alternatives today in CFLs and LEDs).

This June, the oceans also recorded above-average temperatures, as did parts of Greenland, which has significant impacts for the ice sheet. If you have to confront any climate change naysayers, the map included of the worldwide temperatures for the month shows a serious tale.

But now, for a roundup of some good news: Environment 360 at Yale University notes that India just doubled its tax on domestic and imported coal, with the goal of funding more clean energy projects. And some of the U.S. mainstream media is covering climate change much more in the first half of 2014.

Finally, support for EPA's proposed carbon pollution limits on coal-fired power plants is rolling in as we get ready for the Pittsburgh public hearings on the recently-proposed standard on July 31 and Aug 1. Be sure to read the upcoming posts by my colleague, Joy Bergey, for the lowdown post-hearing.

Kate Gibbons is northeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Wilkes-Barre.

One citizen's motivation to testify at the upcoming EPA hearing on the Clean Power Plan

PennFuture has a terrific set of volunteers. Tom Mullaney, who lives in my neck of the woods (just outside of Philadelphia), has been helping us out for about six months now and he's a delight to work with. Tom is so committed to the effort to slow climate change that he's making the round trip to Pittsburgh on July 31 so that he can testify in person at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) hearing on its long-overdue proposal to limit carbon pollution from dirty power plants. Tom shared his testimony with me earlier this week, and it really touched me. He has kindly agreed to share his testimony here. Thanks, Tom!

My name is Tom Mullaney and I am a resident of Glenside, Pennsylvania. I am a high school history teacher.

I am fully supportive of the EPA's proposed standard. It should be implemented promptly and without being weakened in any way.

As a history teacher, I hope that as I approach retirement in the early 2040s, I will teach my students about a time when Americans were concerned about carbon emissions in the atmosphere. I want to explain to my students that the problem is considered history and not a crisis in their lives because, in 2014, our government took action resulting in reduced carbon in the atmosphere and increased willingness of other countries to follow this example.

I am looking forward to my lesson on how the United States got carbon emissions under control. As a history teacher, I look back as well. To understand why we are here today, we need to know the EPA has the authority, granted by a bipartisan vote of Congress, signed into law by a Republican president, and confirmed by Supreme Court decision written by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, to set standards for industrial carbon pollution from power plants.

Setting reasonable carbon pollution standards for power plants will cut the primary driver of climate change. Carbon dioxide traps heat. That is a scientific fact. Since the dawn of the industrial age, we have increased carbon emissions, something that has been irrefutably measured and documented. In that time, temperatures have consistently risen, so much so that, globally, we’ve now had 351 consecutive months above the long-term average. That means a 29-year-old has never lived through a “cooler than normal” month. This fuels extreme weather such as Superstorm Sandy, which closed my school for three days in October 2012.

When southeastern Pennsylvania students miss three days of school because of inclement weather in October, the problem is not theoretical. It is real and already impacting our daily lives.

Please take action by implementing the proposed standard. I want my students in the 2040s to know about this problem because I teach it to them, not because they experience it. Thank you.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia. You'll find her in Pittsburgh on July 31 and August 1 for the EPA hearings.

Ready to #ActOnClimate? Here's what you need to know.

How many times do you really have the opportunity to be part of an historic event? Now is your chance! The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding hearings in Pittsburgh on July 31 and August 1 to accept public comments on its proposed limits for CO2 from dirty, old power plants. Power plants are the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution, which exacerbates climate change. These common sense limits proposed by EPA will protect our communities and human health. This is a BIG DEAL! There will also be a huge rally on July 31 conjunction with the hearing.

Surely you want to be a part of this so we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We’re providing a FREE bus from the Harrisburg area to Pittsburgh on July 31 for folks wishing to speak at the hearing and for those wanting to attend the rally, and we’re also providing a FREE lunch.

Details

Bus

Pick-up site:   Target (parking lot) 
                       6416 Carlisle Pike
                      Mechanicsburg, PA 17050

Please park far from the building at the southern end of the lot.
We will be leaving Mechanicsburg at 6:30 a.m., please be on time.

 

We will depart Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. and should return to Harrisburg by 7 p.m.
There will be no stops, so please bring drinks and snacks. Buses are restroom-equipped.

Hearing

Moorhead Federal Building
1000 Liberty Ave., Room 1310
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

July 31, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

August 1, 9:00 a.m – 8:00 p.m.

Since the hearing is held at a U.S. government facility, you must pass through a security screening and provide a valid picture ID (e.g. driver’s license or government-issue ID).

Please bring two copies of your comments/testimony.

We can send you suggested comments in advance of the hearing and are more than happy to work with you on your comments. In the meantime, feel free to review this recent blog post with talking points.

Rally

August Wilson Center
980 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

July 31, 11 a.m.- Noon

There will be FREE boxed lunches available after the rally.  (Who ever said there's no such thing as a free lunch?)

Driving

If you are driving to Pittsburgh, you can park at the Grant St. Transportation Center.

Lodging

If you are looking for an affordable place to stay in Pittsburgh, please email me: Quinn@pennfuture.org.

Jennifer Quinn is central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Harrisburg. She tweets @QuinnJen1.

Everyone -- including you -- has a stake in EPA's proposal to limit industrial carbon pollution

We're excited. Momentum is building for a strong showing in Pittsburgh on July 31 and Aug 1.

Why? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is holding public hearings on those days to accept comments on its proposed standard to limit CO2 from dirty, old power plants. Finally!

I personally -- and strongly -- encourage everyone to testify: individuals, representatives of organizations, health care professionals, business leaders. Everyone.

This is because I suggest that everyone is an environmentalist (calm down, Rush, and do hear me out):

• The adult daughter, sitting in the ER with her aging mother all night, hoping Mom will survive this latest asthma attack, exacerbated by our dirty air.
• The grandfather, concerned about how his grandchildren will cope with a world that will be changed by ever more severe weather. 
• The families of the 47 people killed one year ago by the explosion of the runaway oil train in Quebec.
• The lifelong fisherman, concerned about the health of the fish in the Susquehanna River. 

Do you share any of these concerns? Then tell the EPA what you think.

Do you pay for any part of your own health insurance, or even the occasional doctor's bill? Then you should care about unchecked carbon pollution from power plants, since the health costs associated with this pollution ultimately falls on all our shoulders.  Tell the EPA what you think.

Are you concerned by the financial and safety threats of more superstorms like Hurricane Sandy? You got it: Tell the EPA what you think.

You don't have to be an expert to testify, simply a concerned citizen.

Click here for information to help you write your testimony.

If you can't make it to Pittsburgh, email me at bergey at pennfuture dot org and I'll read your testimony into the record. 

It matters. Because you matter. Now is the time to speak out.

Tell the EPA what you think.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia; she tweets @joybergey. She'll be in Pittsburgh on July 31 and August 1, telling the EPA what she thinks.

Talking points for testifying at upcoming EPA public hearing on climate change

You've likely heard that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing, at long last, to limit industrial carbon pollution from dirty, power plants. The agency's Clean Power Plan is great news for Pennsylvania (and the rest of the world). It can only mean cleaner air, a more stable climate, and better health for all of us in the future.

Consider yourself hereby invited to testify at the EPA hearing in Pittsburgh on Thursday, July 31, and Friday, August 1. Anyone and everyone should consider testifying. You can represent yourself, an organization, your faith community, or your family.

What would you say in your testimony? Start by introducing yourself and where you live. State the name of the organization you represent and what they do, if you're speaking on their behalf.

State that you are fully supportive of the EPA's proposed standard, and that you want it to be implemented promptly and without being weakened in any way.

Continue by offering a sentence or two about why you care about action on climate change. For example, "My cousins lost their home on the Jersey shore to Hurricane Sandy, and unchecked climate change will only bring us more and more superstorms."  Or perhaps, "My children (or grandchildren) deserve as safe and stable a future as we can possible leave them, and climate change works against that." You get the idea.

Then it would be helpful to list some facts and figures about climate change. See below for a bunch of those that you can use.

Finish up by reiterating your support for the proposed standard, and thanking EPA for the opportunity to be heard.

Keep in mind that you are only allotted five minutes. so you will want to speak to the issues that resonate with you the most. (300 to 600 words total would be great.)

Bring two copies of your testimony (typed or handwritten) to leave with the EPA. And be sure to include your name and contact info on the copies.

So, register to speak at the hearing!

Please sign up now for a speaking slot on Thursday, July 31, or Friday, August 1. EPA should respond to your request within 24 hours, assigning you a time to speak. Please email me at bergey at pennfuture dot org and let me know what time you've been assigned to speak. And if you can't get to Pittsburgh, I can arrange for someone to read your testimony.

Talking Points......Feel free to use any of these in your testimony.

• Carbon pollution causes climate change, resulting in more frequent and increasingly violent extreme weather events, drought, sea level rise and other stressors that devastate communities, threaten public health, and destroy and degrade wildlife habitat.  
• Globally, we’ve now had 351 consecutive months above the long-term average, meaning a 29-year-old has never lived through a “cooler than normal” month.
• Wildfires, floods and extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall, are becoming more frequent and more severe. These changes are happening in the evolutionary blink of an eye.  This creates real costs to our economy, negatively impacts public health and puts stress on wildlife and the natural environment.
• Pennsylvania creates more heat-trapping emissions than all but two other states -- Texas and California, each of which have much larger populations.
• Pennsylvania creates nearly one percent of the world's total heat-trapping emissions, far disproportionate to our population. 

 The Public Health Impacts

• From the American Lung Association: "Climate change and ozone scientists warn that the buildup of greenhouse gases and the climate changes caused by it will create conditions, including warmer temperatures, which will increase the risk of unhealthful ambient [ground level] ozone levels....Even with the steps that are in place to reduce ozone, evidence warns that changes in climate are likely to increase ozone levels in the future in large parts of the U.S. To protect human health, the nation needs strong measures to reduce climate change and ozone." (www.lung.org)
• From the 2014 National Climate Assessment: "Climate change, as well as increased CO2 by itself, can contribute to increased production of plant-based allergens....Higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons can increase allergic sensitizations and asthma episodes and diminish productive work and school days. Simultaneous exposure to toxic air pollutants can worsen allergic responses. Even rainfall and rising temperatures can foster indoor air quality problems, including the growth of indoor fungi and molds, with increases in respiratory and asthma-related conditions."   (nca2014.globalchange.gov)
• From the 2014 National Climate Assessment: "Extreme heat events are the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S. Many cities, including Philadelphia, have suffered dramatic spikes in death rates during heat waves....Heat waves are also associated with increased hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders."   (nca2014.globalchange.gov)

•  Clean Air Task Force provides terrific information at the level of counties and power plants for every state, including Pennsylvania. Go to www.catf.us/fossil/problems/power_plants and click on Pennsylvania on the map.

The Economic Impacts

• Between 1970 and 2006, U.S. GDP grew by 195 percent, even though we had Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Air Act regulations that significantly cut carbon monoxide, smog pollution, acid rain, and toxic pollutants like lead.  
• Setting limits on the carbon pollution causing climate change will spur investment and innovation in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies. The real economic risk is inaction. From 2011-2013 alone, damages from extreme weather events have exceeded $200 billion. Imagine how much of a cleanup bill we’d be handing our children and grandchildren if we fail to act now.  
• More than 90 million Americans take part in wildlife-related recreation, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Hunting and Fishing Survey. The outdoor recreation industry contributes $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy, supporting nearly 6.5 million jobs in communities across the U.S. and generating $88 billion in annual state and national tax revenue.

Supporting Points

• The EPA is using its authority, granted by a bipartisan vote of Congress, signed by a Republican president [Nixon], and confirmed by a conservative-leaning Supreme Court [The Roberts Court], to set standards for industrial carbon pollution from power plants, which threatens public health.
• Setting reasonable carbon pollution standards for power plants will cut the primary driver of climate change, which fuels extreme weather that threatens communities and public health with increasing costs and worsening impacts.
• Climate change deniers want you to distrust the science, and ignore the impacts and costs of climate change already being felt by communities and wildlife across the country.
• Big polluters want to continue to dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air for free, instead of adopting reasonable carbon pollution safeguards that protect public health and wildlife by slowing climate change. That’s wrong.

Joy Bergey is federal policy director for PennFuture, and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @joybergey. You can meet her in Pittsburgh on July 31 or August 1 -- she wouldn't miss it for the world.