Letter: Clean Power Plan is important step

I’m writing in response to an article the Augusta Free Press published on the Mama Summit, a coalition of families and other groups who are calling on legislators to support the Clean Power Plan’s clean air initiatives.

This issue is important not only to Virginians right now, but to everyone who will live in Virginia in the future. Virginia has huge areas of coastline that are the first places affected by rising sea levels, caused directly by human emission of greenhouse gasses. The Clean Power Plan is the biggest step the United States has ever taken to reduce carbon emissions, and the fact that House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 21 are both making their way through the General Assembly this session just doesn’t make sense.

The evidence of climate change, and reasons behind it, are too much to ignore anymore. The Clean Power Plan is something that both parties should be getting behind. By 2030, the plan will save American families $204 annually on their power bills, and provide up to $54 billion in health and climate benefits. I urge Senator Hanger and Delegate Bell to vote against these bills that plan on delaying the Clean Power Plan.

– Letter from Will Southard/Second-year student, University of Virginia