By: Emily Pickett, Public Engagement Coordinator, 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
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Emily Pickett, and I’m a consultant for Moms Clean Air Force. I live in Tampa, Florida, and I am calling on EPA not to roll back the Carbon Rule. Strong climate pollution standards for power plants are vital for protecting families from harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming and endanger human health.
Power plants are responsible for roughly a quarter of climate pollution in the US. My home state of Florida is a significant contributor, as the second-largest producer of electricity in the country after Texas. Rather than using clean energy, Florida still relies predominantly on natural gas, which fuels about 75% of our state’s total electricity.
Because climate change is driven by greenhouse gas emissions from the fossil fuel industry, my state’s heavy reliance on natural gas for electricity is extremely troublesome to me. And I'm especially worried about the buildout of new natural gas plants in our state that would be covered by the Carbon Rule. It’s troublesome because I fear we are on a destructive path due to the magnitude of our climate impacts.
Florida is the fastest-growing state, with more people moving here than any other state. As more and more people move to Florida, I fear an ever-increasing reliance on fossil fuels to power our homes. I fear the natural beauty that makes our state special is being destroyed to make room for sprawling neighborhoods that are taking over our once-rural ecosystems. I fear that new roads to accommodate these neighborhoods will result in increased car and truck emissions. I worry that we aren’t taking advantage of clean energy like solar enough. Given that we are the Sunshine State, renewable energy like solar should comprise more than just 9% of our electricity generation.
Placing my future concerns aside, there is much to worry about in the present. Journalists and environmentalists agree that Florida is at ground zero for climate change and sea-level rise. We are already experiencing the negative effects. Worsening high tides, stronger hurricanes, and increased rainfall result in flooding across the state in both coastal and inland areas. Temperatures are increasing as we experience record hot temperatures, making it nearly impossible to be outside for long and requiring us to run our air conditioners more – another example of our growing reliance on fossil fuels.
Our current situation is dire, and the impacts of the state’s growth will only make things worse. Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that the state has ignored projects that encourage renewable energy, building efficiency, or any other method for cutting emissions.
Instead, Florida has focused on sea-level rise resilience, which though critically important, fails to address the enormity of our climate troubles. We are in a pivotal moment in which we must get on the right path toward reducing carbon pollution to protect public health and the beauty of our state.
As a Floridian, I know that a just transition to renewable energy is achievable. We can create a cleaner, healthier environment by adding renewable energy sources and improving energy efficiency in our homes and businesses; by looking at the totality of our state’s climate crisis instead of focusing only on the moment’s most pressing issue; and by protecting climate pollution protections for existing coal and new gas power plants. Therefore, I am calling on EPA to protect the Carbon Rule to help protect the state of Florida and families across the country from harmful carbon pollution that contributes to climate change and the many ways climate change impacts our health. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.