Health Care Without Harm stood alongside nearly 200 advocates for health and the environment in testifying before the EPA in support of the Clean Power Plan at a hearing in Kansas City, Mo., this week. In her testimony Lindsey Corey, Health Care Without Harm communications manager, explained the adverse health effects of repealing the plan and allowing pollution from coal-fired power plants to continue unabated.
“The burning of coal releases a number of highly toxic air pollutants, which have been shown to cause respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, neurological damage, and premature death. The annual deaths associated with fine particulate matter alone have been estimated to be as high as 52,000 — more than all the lives lost in car accidents each year,” Corey told the EPA.
She also pointed to the tremendous benefits to health and the environment that would come with fully implementing the Clean Power Plan without any further delay, remarking that a recent analysis by the Trump Administration predicted that the plan would prevent an estimated 4,500 premature deaths each year.
Many health professionals also testified in support of the Clean Power Plan, including nurses from the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.
“The U.S. and the EPA need to lead action, not reverse efforts to limit carbon emissions that worsen warming,” said David Buchheit, RN. “Weakening clean air protections will put all Americans at risk, especially the most vulnerable.”
Dr. Leslie Fields, president of Greater Kansas City Medical Society and a physician at St. Luke’s Health System, spoke about the impact on her patients.
“In Kansas City we see significant amounts of lung disease, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) most commonly in adults, and asthma in children. Both of these disease processes are largely affected by air quality and environmental pollution,” she explained.
Health care professionals are united in their support of the Clean Power Plan and have mobilized across the country to defend against its repeal, citing the danger this poses to patient and community health.