Ricky Junquera, 617.599.7048, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org
FORT WAYNE, IN - Former coal lobbyist and acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler held the nation’s only hearing for public comment in Chicago yesterday on the Trump Administration’s plan to repeal the historic Clean Power Plan (CPP) and move forward with its Dirty Power Plan. Indiana residents from across the state headed to Chicago, IL for the hearing.
The Dirty Power Plan rolls back pollution controls on coal-fired plants and doesn't demand pollution reductions from states or plant owners and operators, despite undeniable proof that major cuts are needed for public health and to combat the climate crisis.
Terrie Gibbs, from Evansville, said, "The health of too many of us who live and breathe in Southwestern Indiana have been sacrificed. We bear the burden of toxic pollution caused by electrical generation for distant communities. We are the sacrifice zone."
Becky Gonzalez, from Fort Wayne, said, “If the EPA replaces the Clean Power Plan with their proposed "Dirty Power plan" it is my fear that the fossil fuel industry will continue their business-as-usual approach to supplying the nation's energy demands: continuing to accelerate climate change, polluting our air and waterways, damaging the health of the communities who lay in wake of this pollution, and continuing to willfully ignore all the evidence that supports a logical transition to cleaner, cheaper forms of energy generation.”
Kelly Beduhn, from South Bend, said, “An Environmental Protection Agency worthy of the name would know that no amount of profits could ever offset the destruction of our planet and the lives lost to pollution."
Jesse Kirkham, from Danville, said, "I'm here for my children and my grandchildren. I want a cleaner healthier world for them.”
In August, residents from all around the state traveled to Southwest Indiana to visit their electric utilities’ Super Polluting coal-burning power plants and met fellow Hoosiers who live in the “sacrifice zone” in and around Evansville, IN. The Center for Public Integrity and The Weather Channel listed four coal-burning power plants in Southwest Indiana as four of the top 22 Super Polluters in the country. The tour covered IPL’s Petersburg, I&M’s Rockport, and Vectren’s Alcoa coal-burning power plants.
EPA’s own analysis has shown that the Dirty Power Plan would also lead to as many as 1,400 premature deaths from increased soot (as well as 230 deaths from increased smog), up to 15,000 new cases of upper respiratory problems, and more than one hundred thousand missed school and work days annually by 2030.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.