News_Release_Learning_Collaborative_for_Urban_Health_Departments

Public Health Institute and the Center for Climate Change & Health applaud the release by the Environmental Protection Agency of proposed standards to limit carbon pollution for existing power plants, a major step in the roll out of the President’s Climate Action Plan. Clean air and clean energy production are essential to protect the health of Americans.

The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change find major health risks due to climate change, and find that current actions remain inadequate to prevent the likelihood of catastrophic warming. PHI calls for urgent and substantial action to mitigate climate change, and for proactive investment in adaptation and building climate resilience. The benefits of action are many, the risks of inaction devastating. 

“If we fail to take bold action on climate change,” stated Public Health Institute CEO Mary Pittman, in response to the findings released Friday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “our children’s children and generations that follow them will continue to grapple with the health impacts of extreme weather, increased drought and flooding, sea level rise, extreme heat, and myriad other impacts of climate change.

“We still have the opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate change and its devastating impacts on health, but we must act now.”

The Public Health Institute applauds President Obama for his bold move to institute tough new requirements on coal and gas power plants, aiming to limit their greenhouse gas emissions for the first time. Federal action to limit CO2 from power plants is a major step forward, and is both precedent-setting and offers health benefits by mitigating climate change.  

“The Public Health Institute welcomes President Obama’s Climate Action Plan,” says Matthew Marsom, Vice President for Public Health Policy & Advocacy. “Its emphasis on the threat that climate change poses to human health serves as a wake up call. Lives are at stake and we must act swiftly to turn the tide.”