Statement of Pennsylvania Coalition of Environmental, Faith, Parent Groups on State of the Union address

President Obama is praised for commitment to clean up power plants

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A coalition of Pennsylvania environmental and progressive groups, committed to implementing carbon pollution standards for power plants, released the following statement after President Obama's State of the Union address:

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"Last June, President Obama launched his Climate Action Plan, including the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants. Nearly four million Pennsylvanians and other Americans have already shown their support for setting commonsense limits on the carbon pollution from power plants that contribute to climate change, threatening public health and fueling extreme weather events that are devastating communities across America.

"President Obama has already taken steps to cut carbon pollution with cleaner car standards for motor vehicles and investments in clean energy and energy efficiency. Now the administration will focus on dirty power plants – the largest U.S. source of carbon pollution."

PennFuture President and Chief Executive Officer Cindy Adams Dunn noted, "Every day, power plants dump massive amounts of carbon pollution into our air. That has to stop. We urge the President and the Environmental Protection Agency to move forward with strong standards that will reduce carbon pollution from power plants by more than 25 percent below current levels by 2020 while encouraging increased energy efficiency and promoting clean, renewable energy technologies. This level of decrease is essential to help achieve the president's 2020 goal of a 17 percent cut in climate pollution."

PennEnvironment Field Director Adam Garber said, "We applaud the President for his remarks tonight, and for his commitment to meeting our obligation to future generations to address climate change."

Cricket Eccleston Hunter, director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light, said, "Congregations across America are doing their part by using energy more efficiently and choosing clean electricity for their buildings, but we need more. We need strong standards that clean up our aging power plants as well as not-yet-built power plants."

Gretchen Dahlkemper-Alfonso, national field director for Moms Clean Air Force, said, "As a mom, I applaud President Obama's commitment to our children's health and the health of future generations by working to combat our changing climate."

The following groups have signed onto the statement:

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization founded in 1998 with staff in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. The organization's activities include litigating cases before regulatory bodies and in local, state, and federal courts; advocating and advancing legislative action on a state and federal level; public education; and assisting citizens in public advocacy.

The Philadelphia Inquirer called PennFuture the "state's leading environmental advocacy organization;" the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named the organization "one of the 10 most influential groups on the issue of natural gas drilling;" and StateImpact Pennsylvania, an online collaboration of NPR stations across the state, called PennFuture "the commonwealth's main environmental advocate."

Contact:  
Elaine Labalme   
[email protected]
412-996-4112

SOURCE PennFuture