By: Brooke Petry, Pennsylvania State Coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 13, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Brooke Petry, and I am a Pennsylvania state coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force living with my family in Philadelphia. I strongly support EPA’s proposal to limit carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants and ask that EPA finalize these standards as quickly as possible.
Power plants are responsible for roughly a quarter of climate pollution in the US, and Pennsylvania is the third-highest carbon polluter from power plants in the country. Across the state, the impacts of climate change have already arrived. In Philadelphia, this was dangerously apparent last week, as our city was choked with toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires. At one point Wednesday evening, registering the worst AQI of any major city on planet Earth. No strangers to climate impacts, we are also plagued each summer by the urban heat island effect, where dense concentrations of buildings and pavement absorb and retain heat—and amplify heat-related health impacts, like heat exhaustion. This effect is especially pronounced in neighborhoods that have faced generational harms and disinvestment from racist policies like redlining and already endure disproportionate exposure to pollution. During warmer months, we see more frequent air quality warnings as heat mixes with pollutants to create ground level ozone—which is unsafe to breathe. Hotter temperatures make it harder for children to learn in schools. The first week of June, over 90 schools, including the one my child attends, had to dismiss early because of the dangerous heat.
Some populations are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution and the climate crisis. As a person with asthma and as the parent of a child with asthma, my family experiences heightened impacts of climate change on a daily basis, as do many of our neighbors and community members. Children, the elderly, low-income communities, people who are pregnant, and folks with asthma are on the front lines of this crisis. The childhood asthma rate in my city is a staggering 21%. On extremely hot days and on days with poor air quality, folks with asthma may have to weigh the very real danger of an asthma attack against the need to walk to the store for groceries.
Under the proposed rule, states must develop and submit a plan to meet the federal requirements, and RGGI (the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) can be that plan for Pennsylvania as EPA has signaled its openness to allowing existing mechanisms like RGGI to serve as a state’s pathway for complying with its standards.
Using RGGI to meet Pennsylvania’s federal obligations is a quicker path to reducing health-harming pollution, could also support a just transition for workers and communities, and could save us valuable time and resources that would be spent developing a new plan from scratch.
While we urge EPA to move swiftly on this rule, we want to see mechanisms that strengthen community input and safeguards in the final version of this rule, which is why I am calling on EPA to finalize the strongest possible standards to help protect our families from harmful air pollution that contributes to climate change and impacts health. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and for your work to ensure a livable climate for future generations.