Statement on EPA’s Clean Power Plan hearing and widespread support for the CPP

CHARLESTON, WV - As hundreds of clean air and climate advocates turned out to the EPA’s public hearing on rescinding the Clean Power Plan Tuesday, Appalachian community leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, and public health experts from West Virginia and adjacent communities held a press conference, panel discussion, and transcribed “Hearing for Healthy Communities” in support of the plan across the river at the University of Charleston.

Tomorrow, the coalition will deliver transcribed versions of the testimony from the Hearing for Healthy Communities as well as comments from around the nation urging the EPA to keep the Clean Power Plan in place and protest Pruitt’s continuing efforts to scrap vital clean air and water protections in Appalachia.

In Response Sierra Club West Virginia Organizer Bill Price Released the Following Statement:

“If Trump and Pruitt thought that holding this hearing in West Virginia meant they could avoid the widespread public outrage over their attempt to repeal the Clean Power Plan, they couldn’t have been more wrong. Hundreds of West Virginians and other clear air and environmental advocates from across the nation came to Charleston to speak out in strong support of the Clean Power Plan because it is a commonsense, life-saving approach to reducing carbon pollution and supporting the booming clean energy economy. They showed up at the EPA, they showed up for our Healthy Communities Hearing across the river, and they will keep showing up as this administration attempts to pollute our air, water and climate without regard for anything sacred.”