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Obama steps up US campaign on climate change
World Report
Obama steps up US campaign on climate change In recent weeks, the Obama Administration has unveiled several new initiatives to tackle climate change. The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, Susan Jaffe, reports.
Bloomberg/Contributor
With less than half of his final term in the White House remaining, US President Barack Obama is no longer confining his efforts to slow climate change to Congress or the courts, where opponents are trying to block new, tougher environmental rules at every turn. In the past 3 weeks, his Administration has announced a multifaceted public appeal, including plans to expand public access to tracking the impact of climate change with help from such private sector giants as Google and Microsoft, create a coalition of 30 medical, nursing, and public schools to train health-care providers to respond to the health effects of climate change, and host a climate change and health summit at the White House in the spring. Among several new Administration reports is one praising local officials in New York, California, and other states who have developed strategies to cope with extreme weather events and other results of climate change. Last month, the Obama Administration submitted a US climate plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in preparation for December’s global conference in
Barack Obama speaks at a round table on climate change and health on April 7, 2015
1606
Paris. But the US pledge to reduce greenhouse gases depends in a large part on power plants reducing their carbon dioxide pollution; the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to finalise limits for power plants this summer. Even before they take effect, 14 states and two coal companies have taken the unusual step of challenging the agency’s still uncompleted rules in federal court.
“...climate change has extended the pollen season in some parts of the country by as much as 26 days, increasing the risk of allergy and asthma attacks.” The President is also making the fight personal, recalling, during an interview on national television, that when his eldest daughter was 4 years old, she had such a severe asthma attack that her parents had to take her to the hospital for emergency treatment. “The fright you feel is terrible”, he said. Obama warned of increased asthma cases and “a whole host of public health impacts that are going to hit home”, speaking after meeting with the medical and nursing schools coalition. “We’ve got a lot more work to do if we’re going to deal with this problem in an effective way and make sure that our families and our kids are safe.” Linda McCauley, dean of Emory University’s Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia, attended a White House meeting on the need for better training of the health-care workforce to deal with the continuing health effects of climate change. “If we drastically reduced emissions tomorrow, it will take years for the air pollution to go away”, she told The Lancet. “People with
cardiovascular disease are still going to be subject to weather conditions for a while that could be detrimental to their health.” The physician and nurse educators at the White House meeting also discussed the need to prepare for the unexpected, she said. “As the climate warms, there are certain diseases that are associated with insect vectors that we will begin to see in parts of the country where we haven’t seen them before.” The Administration’s focus on the link between climate change and human health has been the mission of the Climate and Health Program, headed by George Luber at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency is currently working with 18 states from the arid southwest to the northern Atlantic coast to help their health departments understand climate change and protect their residents. Luber said climate change has extended the pollen season in some parts of the country by as much as 26 days, increasing the risk of allergy and asthma attacks. It has also contributed to heavier rainfalls, which can jeopardise drinking water quality. “Climate change isn’t just about polar bears and penguins or impacts distant in time”, Luber told The Lancet. “What we are showing is that these impacts are already affecting our communities and people’s health... so putting the human dimension on climate change is extremely important not only for understanding the threat we face but also for encouraging action.”
The opposition But any action to address climate change continues to provoke strong opposition. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges heard www.thelancet.com Vol 385 April 25, 2015
World Report
arguments in two lawsuits filed by 14 states and two coal mining companies seeking to block the EPA’s proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. They claimed the draft regulations have already adversely affected the coal industry and electric power systems of their states. While the judges consider the issue, US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has urged governors of all 50 states to reject the EPA proposal, which would require states to restructure their electric generation systems to comply with the Administration’s Clean Power Plan. It mandates 30% cuts in 2005 levels of carbon pollution by 2030. In his letter to the governors, McConnell cited a study by a private research firm that found the Clean Power Plan could force coal plants to shut down, raise electric rates, jeopardise states’ economies, and force thousands of Americans to lose their jobs. “The EPA’s proposal goes far beyond its legal authority and that the courts are likely to strike it down”, McConnell wrote in March. But EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia told The Lancet that the agency has “a moral responsibility” and the legal authority to require the emissions reductions under the Clean Air Act. Previous courts have supported “the science, law, and reasoning” the EPA has relied on for its rules, she said, including a Supreme Court decision affirming that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that the EPA has authority to regulate under the Clean Air Act. The Clean Power Plan proposal gives states a range of options to meet its goals, she said. It should not be blamed if a utility owner decides to close a coal plant that cannot meet the emissions standards. Many factors contribute to what is ultimately “a market-based business decision”, she said, including low prices for competing natural gas. www.thelancet.com Vol 385 April 25, 2015
McConnell’s appeal to the governors is only one of the latest Republican efforts to thwart the Obama Administration’s global warming initiatives. With Republicans in control of Congress, the President is unlikely to succeed in tackling climate change in this arena, and so instead, he is relying increasingly on other strategies including executive orders, agency actions, and international efforts, as well as direct public appeals.
“With Republicans in control of Congress, the President is unlikely to succeed in tackling climate change in this arena, and so instead, he is relying increasingly on other strategies...” “The nation’s fossil fuel fired power plants are one of the single largest sources of carbon pollution in our country and the world”, said Vickie Patton, general counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, which have filed legal briefs in support of the EPA, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and the Clean Air Task Force. The agency’s determination that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases endanger health is based on “an extensive body of science that document the serious human health, environmental, and economic damage associated with carbon pollution”, she said. And it has survived several rounds of review and court challenges.
Global limits pledge But in addition to strongly questioning the detrimental effect of greenhouse gases, critics argue that the Administration’s drastic measures are futile. “The EPA’s stated rationale for attempting to shut down America’s coal-fired power plants is to combat global climate change”, McConnell wrote. “Yet, this costly effort is largely symbolic unless and until other major nations impose
similar requirements on their own economies.” If the federal court eventually upholds the EPA carbon rules, “we are giving up a lot to get nothing”, said David Schnare, a lawyer with the conservative Energy and Environmental Legal Institute. “We get no environmental benefits to speak of at all because this is a global issue and [carbon dioxide] travels throughout the atmosphere—it doesn’t matter where it comes from, so if we reduce ours, it will be made up very quickly by China and India.” The EPA’s Purchia disagreed. “We are boldly leading international efforts to address the climate challenge and secure an ambitious and lasting climate agreement to be concluded in Paris in December”, she told The Lancet. And contrary to what critics claim, the USA is not alone. She pointed to the last year’s “historic joint announcement with China”, when that country agreed for the first time to limit its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. According to the plan the Administration submitted to the UN last month, “the United States intends to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26–28 percent below its 2005 level in 2025”. The US plan joins submissions from European Union nations, Mexico, Norway, and Switzerland in pledging to keep average global temperatures from rising above 2°C compared with preindustrial levels, which scientists believe would prevent the most disastrous effects of global warming. Other countries will submit plans in the coming months. The agreement is expected to be finalised in Paris in December, and could take effect in 2020. But with strong political opposition in Congress, court challenges, and resistance from states, the USA might have made a promise that could be difficult to keep.
Susan Jaffe 1607
Obama steps up US campaign on climate change In recent weeks, the Obama Administration has unveiled several new initiatives to tackle climate change. The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, Susan Jaffe, reports.
Bloomberg/Contributor
With less than half of his final term in the White House remaining, US President Barack Obama is no longer confining his efforts to slow climate change to Congress or the courts, where opponents are trying to block new, tougher environmental rules at every turn. In the past 3 weeks, his Administration has announced a multifaceted public appeal, including plans to expand public access to tracking the impact of climate change with help from such private sector giants as Google and Microsoft, create a coalition of 30 medical, nursing, and public schools to train health-care providers to respond to the health effects of climate change, and host a climate change and health summit at the White House in the spring. Among several new Administration reports is one praising local officials in New York, California, and other states who have developed strategies to cope with extreme weather events and other results of climate change. Last month, the Obama Administration submitted a US climate plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in preparation for December’s global conference in
Barack Obama speaks at a round table on climate change and health on April 7, 2015
1606
Paris. But the US pledge to reduce greenhouse gases depends in a large part on power plants reducing their carbon dioxide pollution; the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to finalise limits for power plants this summer. Even before they take effect, 14 states and two coal companies have taken the unusual step of challenging the agency’s still uncompleted rules in federal court.
“...climate change has extended the pollen season in some parts of the country by as much as 26 days, increasing the risk of allergy and asthma attacks.” The President is also making the fight personal, recalling, during an interview on national television, that when his eldest daughter was 4 years old, she had such a severe asthma attack that her parents had to take her to the hospital for emergency treatment. “The fright you feel is terrible”, he said. Obama warned of increased asthma cases and “a whole host of public health impacts that are going to hit home”, speaking after meeting with the medical and nursing schools coalition. “We’ve got a lot more work to do if we’re going to deal with this problem in an effective way and make sure that our families and our kids are safe.” Linda McCauley, dean of Emory University’s Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia, attended a White House meeting on the need for better training of the health-care workforce to deal with the continuing health effects of climate change. “If we drastically reduced emissions tomorrow, it will take years for the air pollution to go away”, she told The Lancet. “People with
cardiovascular disease are still going to be subject to weather conditions for a while that could be detrimental to their health.” The physician and nurse educators at the White House meeting also discussed the need to prepare for the unexpected, she said. “As the climate warms, there are certain diseases that are associated with insect vectors that we will begin to see in parts of the country where we haven’t seen them before.” The Administration’s focus on the link between climate change and human health has been the mission of the Climate and Health Program, headed by George Luber at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency is currently working with 18 states from the arid southwest to the northern Atlantic coast to help their health departments understand climate change and protect their residents. Luber said climate change has extended the pollen season in some parts of the country by as much as 26 days, increasing the risk of allergy and asthma attacks. It has also contributed to heavier rainfalls, which can jeopardise drinking water quality. “Climate change isn’t just about polar bears and penguins or impacts distant in time”, Luber told The Lancet. “What we are showing is that these impacts are already affecting our communities and people’s health... so putting the human dimension on climate change is extremely important not only for understanding the threat we face but also for encouraging action.”
The opposition But any action to address climate change continues to provoke strong opposition. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges heard www.thelancet.com Vol 385 April 25, 2015
World Report
arguments in two lawsuits filed by 14 states and two coal mining companies seeking to block the EPA’s proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. They claimed the draft regulations have already adversely affected the coal industry and electric power systems of their states. While the judges consider the issue, US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has urged governors of all 50 states to reject the EPA proposal, which would require states to restructure their electric generation systems to comply with the Administration’s Clean Power Plan. It mandates 30% cuts in 2005 levels of carbon pollution by 2030. In his letter to the governors, McConnell cited a study by a private research firm that found the Clean Power Plan could force coal plants to shut down, raise electric rates, jeopardise states’ economies, and force thousands of Americans to lose their jobs. “The EPA’s proposal goes far beyond its legal authority and that the courts are likely to strike it down”, McConnell wrote in March. But EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia told The Lancet that the agency has “a moral responsibility” and the legal authority to require the emissions reductions under the Clean Air Act. Previous courts have supported “the science, law, and reasoning” the EPA has relied on for its rules, she said, including a Supreme Court decision affirming that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that the EPA has authority to regulate under the Clean Air Act. The Clean Power Plan proposal gives states a range of options to meet its goals, she said. It should not be blamed if a utility owner decides to close a coal plant that cannot meet the emissions standards. Many factors contribute to what is ultimately “a market-based business decision”, she said, including low prices for competing natural gas. www.thelancet.com Vol 385 April 25, 2015
McConnell’s appeal to the governors is only one of the latest Republican efforts to thwart the Obama Administration’s global warming initiatives. With Republicans in control of Congress, the President is unlikely to succeed in tackling climate change in this arena, and so instead, he is relying increasingly on other strategies including executive orders, agency actions, and international efforts, as well as direct public appeals.
“With Republicans in control of Congress, the President is unlikely to succeed in tackling climate change in this arena, and so instead, he is relying increasingly on other strategies...” “The nation’s fossil fuel fired power plants are one of the single largest sources of carbon pollution in our country and the world”, said Vickie Patton, general counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, which have filed legal briefs in support of the EPA, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and the Clean Air Task Force. The agency’s determination that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases endanger health is based on “an extensive body of science that document the serious human health, environmental, and economic damage associated with carbon pollution”, she said. And it has survived several rounds of review and court challenges.
Global limits pledge But in addition to strongly questioning the detrimental effect of greenhouse gases, critics argue that the Administration’s drastic measures are futile. “The EPA’s stated rationale for attempting to shut down America’s coal-fired power plants is to combat global climate change”, McConnell wrote. “Yet, this costly effort is largely symbolic unless and until other major nations impose
similar requirements on their own economies.” If the federal court eventually upholds the EPA carbon rules, “we are giving up a lot to get nothing”, said David Schnare, a lawyer with the conservative Energy and Environmental Legal Institute. “We get no environmental benefits to speak of at all because this is a global issue and [carbon dioxide] travels throughout the atmosphere—it doesn’t matter where it comes from, so if we reduce ours, it will be made up very quickly by China and India.” The EPA’s Purchia disagreed. “We are boldly leading international efforts to address the climate challenge and secure an ambitious and lasting climate agreement to be concluded in Paris in December”, she told The Lancet. And contrary to what critics claim, the USA is not alone. She pointed to the last year’s “historic joint announcement with China”, when that country agreed for the first time to limit its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. According to the plan the Administration submitted to the UN last month, “the United States intends to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26–28 percent below its 2005 level in 2025”. The US plan joins submissions from European Union nations, Mexico, Norway, and Switzerland in pledging to keep average global temperatures from rising above 2°C compared with preindustrial levels, which scientists believe would prevent the most disastrous effects of global warming. Other countries will submit plans in the coming months. The agreement is expected to be finalised in Paris in December, and could take effect in 2020. But with strong political opposition in Congress, court challenges, and resistance from states, the USA might have made a promise that could be difficult to keep.
Susan Jaffe 1607