The EPA wants to hear from the public about regulating CO2 from coal plants under the Clean Air Act.
Comment sessions have been set up in 11 cities nationwide. The remaining ones include:
San Francisco, CA: Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at EPA Region 9 office, 75 Hawthorne St.
Dallas, TX: Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St.
Seattle, WA: Nov. 7, 3 p.m.to 6 p.m. at Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second. Ave.
Washington, D.C.: Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at EPA Headquarters, William Jefferson Clinton East Building, 1201 Constitution Ave. NW
Chicago, IL: Nov. 8, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at EPA Region 5 office, 77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA: Nov. 8, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at William J. Green Federal Building, 600 Arch St.
If you are interested in attending a session,
registration is recommended, as high turnout is anticipated (good!).
For those unable to attend any of these sessions, as in my own case, comments can be sent to carbonpollutioninput@epa.gov or in a form on this website.
Below the Kosquiggly is my comment to them. I implore you to add your voice as well. Every progressive victory today will be meaningless in 20, 30, 40 years if our life support system -- aka the Earth we evolved to live in -- fails.
Science is the best tool we have to understand the world we inhabit and share. Scientists who study the climate (i.e. who are not shills for special interests) are united in their diagnosis: catastrophic effects await in this century unless we take rapid action to mitigate, not just adapt, regarding climate change. We face myriad environmental challenges on multiple fronts, but it is essential that we use the tools at our disposal NOW so that in the future, things are not as bad as they might be.
Study after study has demonstrated that it is not only in our best interest environmentally to act now, but it is also in our best interest economically, as the longer we wait, the greater the costs to respond become. Every day wasted is one more day of expense and investment in the status quo, rather than a sustainable and just future. I say just because justice is not served when mega-corporations and their pathological leaders get rich today on the backs of the planet and our children's future.
Already, we can see the signs of a changing climate. We must take action TODAY to mitigate the damage this will cause. Regulating carbon dioxide is one of the most important steps in that process. It will spur investment in clean, renewable, sustainable energy sources; it will ween us off our addiction to fossil fuels; it will internalize the true cost of fossil fuels, rather than allowing externalities to be heaped on those least able to cope with them; and it is the scientifically, economically, morally, and rationally right thing to do.
To avoid reaching a 2 degree Celsius global average temperature increase, as much as 2/3 to 3/4 of known fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground. Since feedbacks have already begun through deforesting old growth forests, lower Arctic albedo (reflectivity) as white ice turns to dark ocean, and permafrost release, stabilizing at 2 degrees is a daunting enough challenge. We must use every tool in the toolbox to make these new CO2 restrictions as stringent as possible if we have any hope of averting future catastrophe. Every idea that is floated to reduce CO2 must be seriously considered, and a great many must be implemented with greatest haste.
Governing is hard, and procrastination is easy, but unless we are willing to condemn the future of our planet and our species, not to mention generations of Americans, to a world of poverty, resource wars, pestilence, and food and water scarcity, action must be taken now. It must. It must. The fate of our world is in the hands of those with the power to do the right thing. Do the right thing.