More Than Two Million Comments Delivered In Support of EPA's Carbon Pollution Standards

On Tuesday morning, Sierra Club and a coalition of our allies delivered more than 2.1 million comments to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of their recently proposed carbon pollution standards for power plants. These historic standards, which would set the first-ever, national limits on the amount of dangerous carbon dioxide a power plant can emit into our air, are a significant step forward in our efforts to protect public health and confront climate disruption.

The huge number of comments was a record for the EPA, and Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, was on hand to graciously accept the documents and thank everyone for their hard work. Administrator McCarthy has been a champion for clean air and protecting public health so it was exciting to have her, and her energy, on hand for the delivery.

In addition to helping turn out hundreds of expert witnesses and citizen activists at public hearings in Washington, DC and Chicago, Sierra Club members and supporters generated more than 341,000 comments. Sierra Club organizers also worked to secure support statements from 60 community and regional organizations that were hand-delivered to Administrator McCarthy.

Despite this overwhelming demonstration of public support for industrial carbon pollution standards, we fully expect continued attempts from corporate polluters to block and delay these much-needed protections. The Sierra Club stands ready to defend the Clean Air Act and we look forward to helping break the next EPA record for comments submitted in support of commonsense public health protections.

-- Terry McGuire (pictured aboved with EPA's Gina McCarthy), Sierra Club Associate Washington Representative. Photos by Josh Lopez.