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.

Climate deniers in Congress. And yet, they like the money...

Thanks to the Center for American Progress for the insightful report it has just released titled

States of Denial: States with the Most Federal Disaster Aid Sent Climate-Science Deniers to Congress.  

The report shows all too well the actual cost of carbon pollution, as we reflect on extreme weather events of recent years. These weather disasters, fueled in part by climate change, are costing the country billions of dollars, even as more than 160 members of Congress continue to deny climate change.

To quote the Center, "Interestingly, many of the states that received the most federal recovery aid to cope with climate-linked extreme weather have federal legislators who are climate-science deniers. The ten states that received the most federal recovery aid in FY 2011 and 2012 elected 47 climate-science deniers to the Senate and the House. Nearly two-thirds of the senators from these top 10 recipient states voted against granting federal emergency aid to New Jersey and New York after Superstorm Sandy."

Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey voted to send aid to our neighbors in New Jersey and New York. However, Senator Pat Toomey voted not to help them. How is this compassionate, or even fair? These are fundamental American values in my perspective, so I simply don't understand how Sen. Toomey can vote this way.

I'm relieved to write that Pennsylvania is 20th on the list of states in terms of aid received, due in some part to the luck of our inland geography. And yet, Pennsylvania ranks as the third worst state in terms of producing global warming pollution. We're a big part of the problem, so a big part of the responsibility should fall on our shoulders.

We're hearing that the Obama Administration is set to publicly propose this Friday (September 20) a carbon pollution standard for new power plants, as authorized by the Clean Air Act. This regulation, if allowed to stand by Congress, will ensure that no new power plant built in this country will be permitted to release unlimited amounts of dangerous carbon pollution into the air, endangering public health and fueling the storms that are devastating communities and costing billions.

I'm only sorry that our country didn't have the foresight to do this a decade ago.