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Author Archives: Minna Toloui

Eighteen national health and medical organizations including the Center for Climate Change and Health issued a statement on the Trump Administration’s proposal to revoke the Clean Power Plan:  “Today’s proposal to revoke the Clean Power Plan is inconsistent with EPA’s core mission of protecting public health and the environment.”

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In this guest blog, Dr. Carl Baum discusses resources available through the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) that health professionals can use to prepare and protect their patients and clients following extreme weather events.

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Here’s what we know: climate change can make hurricanes worse. We care about the connections to climate change because we care about health. Climate change intensifies extreme storms which threaten health directly and indirectly. It is our time as health professionals to speak up and demand responsible, safe climate policies. The reality of Hurricane Harvey pushes us to continue this work for effective climate change policy. The health and livelihood of communities including those in Harvey’s path depend on it.

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Climate change is a threat multiplier, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities such as chronic health issues, lack of access to emergency resources, and more. Georgetown Climate Center (GCC) recognized that practitioners and decision makers need a home for resources focused on making equitable adaption a priority instead of an afterthought—so with the help of partners they created the new Adaptation Equity Portal.

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Minneapolis is currently ranked as the second US city likely to be most significantly impacted by climate change due to the drastic increase in precipitation and extreme storms during certain months and severe drought during others. In 2013, Minneapolis released a robust Climate Action Plan, which outlines strategies to reach their goals including energy efficiency and renewables, increase of bike lanes and active transport, increase recycling and composting, while ensuring sustainable and equitable growth. Minneapolis has been very proactive in reaching these goals and creating a more resilient and equitable city.

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The devastating cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services proposed in President Trump’s budget have rightly gotten a lot of attention.  But there’s another piece of his destructive budget that also threatens the health of our communities and the climate: cuts to public transit and active transportation.

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As the impacts of climate change become more frequent and extreme, Oklahoma is likely to see warming temperatures, and increased variability of precipitation events and storms, which will significantly impact the health and prosperity of Oklahomans. These climate impacts will affect respiratory health, food security, and the local agricultural economy. Warning signs like this led the Tulsa City and County Health Department (TCCHD) to recognize the health threats of climate change, and to commit to doing something about it. TCCHD Environmental Health Services Department (EHSD) was particularly concerned about the potential for warming temperatures and increased variability of rainfall to change the patterns of mosquitos in the Tulsa area.

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Climate change impacts all aspects of public health, from disaster recovery to disease control to social networks to issues of equity and access. San Francisco’s Climate and Health Program, started in 2010, is one of the most comprehensive models of what health departments can do to start planning for action on climate change. To learn more about the city’s framework, we asked Ms. Comerford about challenges faced, lessons learned, advice for other departments, and more. Comerford describes the report’s distribution as “really just the tip of the iceberg” in acting on climate change.

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