M&O Board Chair Laura Seydel and other Georgia leaders speak out in support of EPA’s Clean Power Plan.
“Asthma is the leading cause of emergency room visits to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.Too many of Georgia’s children are suffering from asthma right now, but the Clean Power Plan can help protect these kids. By 2030, the standards will save up to 6,600 lives and prevent 150,000 asthma attacks each year, because cleaning up carbon pollution will reduce other pollutants from power plants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury,” said Laura Seydel.
The EPA held one of four public hearings on proposed standards on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in Atlanta on July 29 and 30. Originally planned to take place on one day only, the EPA added a second day after all the available speaking slots on Monday were booked. More than five hundred clean air advocates from Georgia and across the Southeast as far away as Kentucky attended the public hearing, with many testifying in support of the proposed Clean Power Plan.
EPA staff heard diverse testimony from business people, elected officials, clergy, union representatives, environmental advocates, energy workers and other concerned citizens. Several Mothers & Others supporters spoke in favor of the proposed regulations, emphasizing the health risks of climate disruption and our responsibility to protect air quality for future generations. The Clean Power Plan will not only curb the carbon pollution that directly contributes to climate disruption; it will reduce harmful air pollution, such as smog and soot and other toxic air pollutants.
If you didn’t have the opportunity to testify in person at the hearings, but you want your voice heard, we urge you to submit your comments in writing. Please click here to learn how to submit written comments. The deadline to submit comments is October 16, 2014.
To check out some of the photos from that day, click here.
