By: Sarah McBride, Program Coordinator for Media and Public Engagement, 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 Sarah McBride. I am the Program Coordinator for Media and Public Engagement with Moms Clean Air Force, and I live in St. Petersburg, Florida. I am testifying today in strong support of EPA’s proposal to limit carbon pollution from fossil fuel power plants. Please finalize these critical standards as quickly as possible.
Power plants are responsible for roughly a quarter of the climate pollution in the US, meaning that cutting pollution from these sources could help us make significant strides in tackling the climate crisis.
Although I now live in Florida, I only just moved here from Falmouth, Massachusetts, a small town on Cape Cod. Falmouth is a coastal town that sits 10 feet above sea level, making it extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change-driven sea-level rise.
This worries me a lot. My family and closest friends still live there, and floods can be extremely dangerous. The peak of a flooding event is dangerous, but so is the aftermath, which can include water-borne illness, contaminated drinking water, and increased risk of respiratory diseases due to mold. Research shows that flooding events have a significant impact on the health of children and pregnant women. Experiencing a climate-related crisis, or even just living with the threat of one, can lead to stress, trauma, and anxiety.
As a new coastal Florida resident, I worry about my own safety too. When choosing an apartment, I opted to pay extra for a unit on an upper level because I was warned that lower-level apartments could flood during a hurricane. I’m lucky to have the resources to choose a less flood-prone place to live—many don’t get this choice.
Some parts of St. Petersburg are already experiencing significant flooding. I have a friend here who has lived in a particularly flood-prone area for about 10 years now. Just last week, when a relatively mild storm hit, she had to cancel our plans because the streets around her home were so flooded she couldn’t drive. She says this happens all the time nowadays, but it didn’t used to. If this kind of flooding happens during a mild weather event, I worry about how she and her family will fare during a hurricane, especially since climate change is making hurricanes more intense.
The recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report made clear that the window to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis is rapidly closing. I’m not interested in finding out what these “worst impacts” are, which is why I’m here today to support this rule and call on EPA to finalize the strongest possible standards while also strengthening community input and safeguards.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify.