Why The Health Sector Should Support The Clean Power Plan
On August 3rd, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Power Plan, a historic step in the fight against climate change. And since climate change has so many serious health implications, the policy has the potential to transform our work to help protect the health of our patients and our communities.
Earlier in the year, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communications, the National Medical Association, a society of African American physicians, and the American Thoracic Society, conducted surveys of their members to assess the impact climate change is having on patients and patient care. Both studies showed that a majority of respondents are already observing health impacts of climate change among their patients.
In the past three decades, the percentage of Americans with asthma has more than doubled, and climate change is putting those Americans at greater risk of landing in the hospital. White House Carbon Pollution Fact Sheet.
Carbon pollution and climate change are already affecting the health of millions of children, pregnant women, older adults and vulnerable populations in our nation. The Clean Power Plan will help us address these serious health threats.
The EPA projects its Clean Power Plan will:
- Cut carbon pollution by 30 percent by 2030 (below 2005 levels), providing up to $93 billion in climate and public health benefits;
- Prevent up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work and school days in 2030;
- Prevent 3,300 heart attacks, and up to 2,800 hospital admissions; and
- Help protect low-income communities, as well as children, and seniors who are disproportionately affected by climate change.
(Note: The above projections can be found on the EPA’s fact sheet, Overview of the Clean Power Plan)
Actions that reduce emissions—like the EPA’s Clean Power Plan—can help the world avert serious problems that cost communities nationwide. Carbon pollution from dirty power plants causes up to 6,600 premature deaths each year. The proposed Clean Power Plan will cut hundreds of millions of tons of carbon pollution and hundreds of thousands of tons of harmful particulate pollution, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Together these reductions will provide important health protections to communities disproportionately impacted by dirty air and water.
When recently asked about the health benefits of the Clean Power Plan, Paul Linzmeyer, Sustainability Leader for ThedaCare in Appleton Wisconsin responded, “ThedaCare’s mission is to improve the health of our communities and that commits us to all aspects of human health. We are supportive of the President’s new Clean Power Plan because it is a significant step in helping us achieve our mission by reducing harmful emissions from energy generation, which are causing detrimental health results for our residents and our environment. Healthcare needs to be driving the discussion around all aspects and impacts of decisions made that affect human health”.
By supporting the Clean Power Plan and demonstrating institutional and individual climate leadership, we will be able to decrease the damage to our environment, preserve our country's health and leave a healthier planet for our future generations.
To get more involved in strengthening healthcare’s climate leadership, please contact Eric Lerner at Elerner@hcwh.org.
Eric
Lerner is Director of our U.S. Climate and Health Program.
