Speak up for the Clean Power Plan

While the Great Tax Rip Off is in conference committee, here is something you can do today to address the single most important crisis facing us all - global climate change caused by human activity. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Trump’s coal industry allies are working hard to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The CPP is the cornerstone of America’s commitment to fight climate change by dramatically reducing carbon pollution. Pruitt denies the existence of human caused climate change and refuses to acknowledge the health benefits of clean air. The EPA is making a formal review of the Administration’s proposal. This is our chance to speak out on climate change. Submit your comments in support of the Clean Power Plan!

The Environmental Protection Agency spent years researching climate science and responding to industry and public comments before adopting the Clean Power Plan in 2015. The CPP is the largest U.S. commitment to combat climate change under the Paris Climate Agreement.

Coal and natural gas fired power plants are responsible for about 30 percent of U.S. carbon emissions – our largest source of air pollution. CPP sets targets for states to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s electricity sector.  By 2030 CPP would eliminate more than 1 billion tons of carbon-dioxide, to one third less than 2005 emissions.

The CPP allows states to meet goals by either replacing coal-fired power plants with natural-gas, solar, wind, and hydroelectric plants or by investing in energy efficiency to reduce power demand.

In 2015 EPA found that burning less coal would also save lives and protect children from asthma by cutting ozone and fine particle pollution. By 2030 the CPP is expected to achieve $22 billion more in public-health benefits than Pruitt claims will be saved by industry if the CPP is scrapped.

The CPP is a powerful driver of the innovation and cost reductions for solar and wind technology which has now become cheaper than coal. Where coal has been displaced, utility costs have dropped because the energy harvested from the sun, wind and rivers is free. The transformation from coal to renewable sources creates clean jobs; solar alone employs 2 1/2 times more workers than the coal industry.

The Clean Power Plan, good for our families’ health, our planet and our economy, is in danger. If this plan is scuttled, even when Trump is defeated in 2020 it will take another decade to put in place a new plan.  Our planet can’t wait!

Call To Action

Fight back! Tell the EPA

• They cannot deny the extensive research and science that went into the Clean Power Plan.
• Insist that the EPA stand by their massive factual record and findings.
• Insist that the EPA fulfill its statutory responsibility to regulate carbon to protect our air quality.

The comment deadline is January 16, 2018. The proposal and comment procedures are posted on EPA’s website.  Please go to that site and make your comment.  Support your comment with data and facts from My Weekly Resistance or see below for more resources. Your personal circumstances and experience are important.  Consider including examples of how the proposed rule would impact you negatively.

If you want more information on the EPA’s original findings you can get them from the Union of Concerned Scientists here.