By: Elizabeth Bechard, Public Health Manager, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: July 8, 2025
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0124-0001
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Elizabeth Bechard, and I am a Public Health Manager for Moms Clean Air Force. I live in Vermont with my husband and two children. I’m here today to strongly oppose EPA’s proposal to repeal limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants. Limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources is vital to minimizing future harm from global warming, and every fraction of a degree of global warming we prevent can help avoid future suffering.
Climate change is here, and it is already endangering families around the country and around the world. Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of flood events, and almost exactly two years ago, my community and many other communities in Vermont sustained devastating flooding that destroyed homes and businesses, traumatizing families and causing lasting economic harm. On the first day of what has since become known as The Great Vermont Flood, I remember the panic of rushing to pick up my children from summer camp before the roads between our home and the camp flooded. I remember how devastated my children were to learn that their favorite playground had flooded.
2023’s floods were harrowing enough, but last year, on exactly the same day in July, Vermont experienced flooding again, devastating many of the same farms, businesses, and communities that were still trying to recover from the previous flood. Global warming is contributing to Vermont’s increasing flooding: a recent study found that extreme precipitation in the Northeast is expected to increase by 52% by the end of the century.
In addition to their impact on the physical and economic infrastructure of communities, floods can have a profound impact on mental health. Experiencing a flood event has been linked with an increased risk of anxiety disorders, symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, substance abuse, higher risk of domestic violence, and exacerbation of existing mental health challenges. Like other disasters, floods are also linked with deeply personal losses: in the weeks following the Vermont floods, stories unfolded of lost family photos, missing livestock and pets, small family businesses destroyed, and other irreplaceable belongings damaged by floodwaters. The mental health effects of a flood event are widespread and can linger for years. According to the American Psychiatric Association, the number of people who experience mental health impacts after a disaster often outnumbers those physically injured by a staggering 40 to 1.
This week marks the anniversary of both of these floods, and along with thousands of other Vermonters, I am holding my breath and anxiously watching the weather report. We know it is only a matter of time before the floods come again, and we have seen agonizing reminders of the dangers of flooding in states like Texas and North Carolina already this summer. Just yesterday, a friend from North Carolina told me that her mother’s home and her daughter’s school had flooded because of Tropical Storm Chantal.
It is not too late for us to act on climate change. Fossil fuel power plants have been responsible for approximately a quarter of the climate pollution from the U.S., and it is vital that we limit this planet-heating pollution with strong greenhouse gas standards. Every amount of warming that we prevent will mean a safer, healthier world for our children and future generations. It is unthinkable that we wouldn’t do everything in our power to work towards this world, and unthinkable that EPA would consider rolling back climate pollution protections in a moment like this. Please do not repeal the Carbon Rule. Thank you for your time.