Public officials join environmental groups Downtown tomorrow morning to support the U.S. EPA’s proposed limits on carbon emissions from power plants, meant to reduce air pollution and fight climate change.
The rally, to be held outside the August Wilson Center, coincides with the start of two days of EPA hearings on the Clean Power Plan, being held around the corner, at the William S. Moorhead Federal Building. Pittsburgh is one of just four cities hosting such hearings.
Speakers at the rally in support of the rules include Mayor Bill Peduto, Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper and representatives from groups including the Sierra Club PA, PennFuture, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program.
The rules primarily affect coal-fired power plants. Carbon emissions can be cut by reducing energy consumption, increasing the efficiency of power plants, and moving to energy sources that emit less carbon. Lower emissions of soot and of the chemicals that go into forming smog, would follow suit.
According to the EPA, by the year 2030, the new limits would prevent up to 6,600 premature deaths and as many as 150,000 asthma attacks in children annually.
Emissions of carbon dioxide are the primary driver of human-caused climate change. The EPA’s rules would help reduce carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. This is the first attempt to limit carbon emissions nationally.
The rally begins at 11 a.m. at the Wilson Center, at 980 Liberty Ave.
If you are unable to comment in person to the EPA, you can do so in writing until Oct. 16. For more information, see www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards.
