By: Lux Ho, Georgia 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 Lux Ho, and I am the Georgia field coordinator at Moms Clean Air Force. I support the Carbon Rule and urge EPA to adopt the strongest possible standards to reduce smokestack emissions from fossil fuel power plants. Doing so would help protect our communities from harmful air pollution that contributes to climate change and adverse health outcomes. A staggering 25% of the air pollution generated in the United States alone is caused by fossil fuel power plants.
I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I have been in the state of Georgia my entire life. Being in the South, I see firsthand the devastating effects of climate change and air pollution. Georgians, especially Black and Brown folks, experience some of the worst health outcomes in the country. In 2022, a Wallethub study conducted by public health experts across the country showed that Georgia ranked 47th in the nation for health outcomes.
Georgia still has three coal power plants all within 100 miles of metro Atlanta. According to the Environment Georgia Research and Policy Center, these three plants are amongst the 100 dirtiest plants in the US. Georgia also has eight natural gas power plants, and all these plants together account for 91.5% of the air pollution in the power sector even though the state only generates 56.5% of total electricity. There is a clear correlation in my eyes of the intersection of public health crises and environmental and racial injustice. Children, the elderly, pregnant people, and Black and Brown communities are the most impacted by this crisis.
In Atlanta, where our largest urban forest has been slated to be destroyed to build an unwanted police training facility, I truly think we are approaching a mass crisis as temperatures continue to rise. No doubt these elevated temperatures will affect the livelihoods of laborers and affect our electrical grid and city infrastructure. We will see more frequent air quality warnings as heat from higher temperatures mixes with pollutants to create ground level ozone—which is unsafe to breathe. Air and ground pollution from these plants have a travel radius of hundreds of miles, and our communities will continue to experience adverse health effects like cancer and asthma. Our children will be affected in their ability to develop cognitively and to learn in schools. We will continue to see a rise in childhood asthma rates.
The proposed standards to limit greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of air pollution from new and existing coal- and gas-fired power plants will hold them accountable for their pollution by offering numerous pathways to reduce emissions. The proposed rules will also protect public health by cutting harmful air pollutants, especially in communities that experience the burden of higher adverse health outcomes due to pollution.
I urge EPA to move swiftly on this ruling and to finalize the strongest possible standards to help protect our families and children from harmful air pollution that contributes to climate change and impacts health. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.