Let’s Encourage 100% Renewable Energy

Dear Administrator Regan, leaders and staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Thank you for your commitment to aggressively reducing carbon pollution from coal and gas-powered power plants across the U.S. The deadly heat waves blanketing much of the country right now are just another sign that the climate crisis is here, it’s getting worse, fast.

While the proposed power plant rules are a much-needed step toward curbing the second-highest source of US greenhouse gas emissions, I am deeply concerned that these rules rely on risky and untested carbon reduction methods like carbon capture and storage, co-firing with methane gas or blending gas with green hydrogen. None of these methods have been proven to work at scale, and they do nothing to stop fossil fuel pollution at the source, which disproportionately burdens working-class communities and communities of color.

Carbon capture is a distraction and a risky gamble – we need the agency to boldly regulate in line with science and affirm the existential imperative to shift rapidly towards 100% renewable energy. Please use your rightful authority to ensure equity and environmental justice at the heart of any new power pollution carbon rules. The EPA has a critical role to play in protecting and prioritizing clean energy solutions that don’t make our most vulnerable communities sick.