Senator Casey Announces Support for EPA’s Clean Power Plan

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Faith leaders, climate experts applaud the Senator

PennEnvironment

Today Senator Casey made a compelling case for limiting carbon pollution from power plants in front of a room filled with faith leaders, local climate experts, and more than 100 Pennsylvanians. At the event, which took place at Eastern University this afternoon, the Senator officially announced his support for the Clean Power Plan. 

This marks the first time the Senator has publicly supported the EPA’s Clean Power Plan—a historic effort to slash the largest source of carbon pollution in the country by 32%. The plan was finalized in August after a lengthy rule-making process that included more than 200,000 Pennsylvanians submitting comments in support of limiting carbon pollution.

“Pennsylvanians are ready to move towards a clean energy future that will avoid even hotter summers and more dangerous storms. We applaud Senator Casey’s leadership on climate change and support for this country’s largest effort to slash carbon pollution,” said PennEnvironment’s Global Warming Advocate Elowyn Corby.

Sister Diane Bardol, GNSH, Vice President of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, echoed the Senator’s call for faith-based action, stating that “Seen through eyes of faith, climate change is more than a scientific and economic problem, it is a moral one since it is the poor who are the most adversely affected. Science has helped us to know on a physical level what we have always known on a spiritual level that all life is connected, that what happens to one happens to all. Our only response to that can be to work together to reverse the direction of this pending disaster.”

Professor Neil M. Donahue, Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University and the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies and Director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education, pointed out that “much of the carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels is effectively immortal. We have to drive those emissions to zero over the next few decades. We can do this, but it will only happen when we develop policies that reflect the enormous cost of carbon emissions and drive the further innovations required to make this transition to a clean energy future.”

“By standing in support of the Clean Power Plan, Senator Casey has demonstrated a clear commitment to protecting all Pennsylvanians from the increasing threats of global warming.  We applaud the Senator’s leadership and are proud to stand with him” concluded Corby.