Comment period extended to December 1, 2014
The EPA is accepting comments until December 1, 2014 on its proposed Clean Power Plan. Comments may be made at http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards on the EPA website. The proposed Clean Power Plan will help cut carbon emissions from the power sector.
The Sierra Club strongly favors the EPA proposals, but several issues can be addressed:
1) Methane (CH4), produced by gas fracking, is 80% more potent a greenhouse gas (GHG) in the first 20 years of its release to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2). The fracking industry’s use of high pressure drilling releases much greater amounts of methane into the atmosphere than does shallow drilling. The immense pressure used in fracking is a significant factor in leaking wells.
We are not advocating the continuation of burning coal or oil. The human production and use of all fossil fuels are contributing to climate disruption. However, we feel that methane also must be controlled in order to neutralize global climate change.
2) Discussion in the proposed EPA regulations of advocating for the use of nuclear energy as a means of reducing CO2 emissions in some locations must be opposed. The nuclear industry brings immense increased costs to the electricity sector, including a publicly funded safety net for the industry’s errors. This does not include the additional health threats to the public of uranium mining and transportation, the probability of accidents (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukashima), and the still unresolved problem of nuclear waste disposal.
3) The Sierra Club can strongly advocate for renewable energy to replace all fossil fuels and nuclear to ensure clean air and the reduction of GHG emissions. Renewable energy from solar, wind, geothermal and small hydro are all currently economically and technologically viable as energy sources.
Click here for a copy of the comments presented to the EPA at its Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hearing by Bob Ciesielski (Chapter Energy Chair) on behalf of the Atlantic Chapter.