Lunghino: Why Tennesseans celebrate clean power here today

The planet is warming, leading to impacts on human health and our environment.

Vivek Murthy, surgeon general, issued that warning June 23 during the White House Public Health & Climate Change Summit, noting that climate change is a moral issue that targets seniors, children and low-income individuals.

Murthy's comments echo the Pope's Encyclical released June 18 underscoring the moral need for action on climate change, and a new report from the Lancet Commission on Climate Change that states "the effects of climate change threaten to undermine the last half-century of gains in development and global health" and "climate change is fundamentally an issue of human health."

It's clear from what these and other experts say that the need to act is more important than ever. Thankfully, we are seeing action. On Aug. 3, President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the Clean Power Plan (CPP), an important safeguard that will protect Tennesseans from the dangerous carbon pollution of dirty power plants and will modernize the electric power system for the 21st century.

The plan is an unprecedented opportunity for Tennessee. Because it sets an achievable carbon pollution reduction goal for our state and provides the flexibility to achieve that goal, our state can craft a cost-effective plan that ensures our health and economy thrive for decades.

Gov. Haslam can take full advantage of this opportunity to accelerate our shift to clean energy development from dirty fossil fuels. The Tennessee Valley Authority has already made a 30 percent reduction in carbon pollution, in part by closing its oldest, dirtiest coal plants.

Integrating wind and solar power into the grid and deploying energy efficiency improvements, particularly in low-income communities that need it most, as soon as possible, will grow businesses, create jobs and drive economic growth, all while saving customers money. A recent Tennessee jobs survey by Environmental Entrepreneurs finds about 45,000 clean energy jobs already exist in Tennessee. That number is growing.

The vast majority of Tennessee voters support the Clean Power Plan, according to a recent statewide poll. The most persuasive reason for that support is health benefits. Nearly 10 percent of Tennessee residents suffer from asthma, causing productivity losses at work and missed school days. A recent Harvard University study concludes Tennessee will experience significant public health gains from implementing the Clean Power Plan through avoided premature deaths, hospitalizations and nonfatal heart attacks.

Despite its many benefits, the Clean Power Plan is already under attack from some in Congress and even legislators in our state. Backed by their big polluter industry allies, they want to dismantle a safeguard their constituents overwhelmingly support.

Chris Ann Lunghino is an organizer for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign in Tennessee. Contact her at chris.lunghino@sierraclub.org, 714-369-9280, or @ChrisLunghino on Twitter.