President’s climate change plan takes aim at carbon pollution: Proposals welcomed by public health
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* Charlotte Tucker

In the face of rising asthma rates and increasing numbers of floods, heat waves and droughts, President Barack Obama’s administration has been criticized for failing to act strongly enough on climate change.

But public health and environmentalists cheered June 25, when the president announced his wide-ranging and ambitious Climate Action Plan.

In a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Obama laid out what he called an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that aims to reduce carbon pollution, prepare the U.S. for the effects of climate change and lead international efforts to address global climate change.

![Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/nathealth/43/7/1.1/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/43/7/1.1/F1)

A fire consumes a hillside behind homes in Newbury Park, Calif., in May. Increased wildfires are one of the side effects of climate change, which is the target of a new presidential plan.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian, courtesy Getty Images

He cited decades of science that have concluded that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased dramatically.

“That science, accumulated and reviewed over decades, tells us that our planet is changing in ways that will have profound impacts on all of humankind,” he said.

For many in public health, Obama’s speech was a welcome turning point.

“From a public health point of view, this is a huge step forward,” said Kim Knowlton, DrPH, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council and an APHA member. “Limiting carbon pollution, the heat-trapping source of climate change, is an enormous win for public health.”

Obama’s plan calls for the Environmental Protection Agency to develop carbon pollution standards that will govern both new and existing power plants. Those plants are responsible for 40 percent of the carbon in the atmosphere, Knowlton said.

Creating more efficient technologies is a cornerstone of Obama’s plan. It makes loans available for energy efficiency projects, expands a program to create more energy efficient buildings and sets a goal of reducing carbon pollution by at least 3 billion metric tons by 2030 through efficiency standards.

Toward the goal of better preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change — because change will not happen overnight, Obama said — the plan aims to support local programs to invest in climate resiliency. It seeks new strategies for the Hurricane Sandy-affected region to protect against future extreme weather and launches an effort to strengthen hospitals against climate change.

Preparing for the impacts of climate change is important, said Linda Rudolph, MD, MPH, co-director of the Center for Public Health and Climate Change at the Public Health Institute, and she said that starts with the basics.

“It’s not only for preparing for extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy,” Rudolph told *The Nation’s Health*. “It’s also looking at how we build our cities. Being resilient in the face of increasing heat and having a food infrastructure that works — that means building green cities with sustainable local food systems…so the community is really prepared for a full range of impacts.”

Efforts to curtail climate change have run into barriers before because of concerns about the cost of proposed initiatives and pushback from industry. But Obama noted in his speech that recently, “more than 500 businesses, including giants like GM and Nike, issued a Climate Declaration, calling action on climate change ‘one of the great economic opportunities of the 21st century.’” He pointed out that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is working to cut carbon pollution by 20 percent and use renewable energy.

“Think about it,” he said. “Would the biggest company — the biggest retailer in America — would they really do that if it weren’t good for business, if it weren’t good for their shareholders?”

Over the years, public health has experienced the result in investments in a cleaner environment, said Laura Anderko, PhD, RN, Robert and Kathleen Scanlon endowed chair in values-based health care at Georgetown University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies. Studies have shown the differences in death and mortality now compared to in the days before the Clean Air Act, and the results are stark.

“A lot of lives have been saved as a result of the Clean Air Act,” Anderko told *The Nation’s Health.* “What we’re seeing is improvements in health for all age groups over time.”

Similar change is possible with new carbon standards, she said.

Rudolph agreed, noting that climate change is becoming increasingly dangerous to human health.

“We know that climate change will act as essentially a threat multiplier for many of our most significant public health challenges,” she told *The Nation’s Health.* Rudolph noted that risks include water availability, extreme heat, increases in vector-borne illnesses and injuries and displacement from extreme weather events. In the U.S., increases in wildfires and flooding have been linked to climate change in recent years. Rudolph said poor people, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses will suffer the most.

“Both in the U.S. and globally, this will play out among the most vulnerable people,” she said.

Unfortunately, Obama’s new plan is facing an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. Republicans in the House of Representatives on July 22 proposed massive cuts to EPA’s 2014 fiscal year budget. The $2.8 billion decrease amounts to one-third of the agency’s budget. The subcommittee that is overseeing the budget process also moved to prohibit the administration from regulating greenhouse gases, which is at the heart of the climate change plan. EPA would also be barred from limiting sulfur in gasoline.

Knowlton said her hope is that Congress will be able to step back and look at the big picture.

“This is the right think to do, looking to our legacy,” she told *The Nation’s Health.* “This is about what we owe our children and grandchildren. This, to me is a total win. The politics aside, if this can become an issue of public health and cost and community security — as it is — I think it can be an issue that’s a top priority for everyone.”

For more information on the President’s Climate Action Plan, visit [www.whitehouse.gov](http://www.whitehouse.gov/).

Editor’s note: This article was updated post-publication.

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association