nity to highlight the links between climate action and community health. Your voice can make a dierence, spurring action to reduce children’s exposure to exhaust by transition- ing buses from fossil fuels to electric, reduc- ing heat island eects through gardens and green spaces, and shifting energy sources to renewable energy that will reduce the health harms of climate change. Finally, there are many options for action within your own home. The typical household and vehicle use of people in the U.S. make up two thirds of their carbon emissions (Song et al., 2019). You can reduce these emissions while saving money. Some options include: • Prioritize insulation. The U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency estimates that improving your insulation alone can reduce utility bills by over 10% (Energy Star, n.d.). • Reduce harmful exposures in your home. Replacing appliances that burn methane with cleaner and more ecient ones, such as heat pumps and electric or induction ranges, saves money and improves the health of your family. • Switch your gas burning car for an elec- tric one. The thousands of dollars of federal tax credits to make these improvements mean that the up-front investment for safer and cheaper energy is in reach for many more of us than we may realize. While we look at the scope of the overlapping impact of cli- mate change and environmental degradation on individual health, it can feel overwhelm- ing and hard to process. Recognizing that the situation is changing—and that tools are available to take meaningful action—is empowering and can help break through that
ica.org/american-climate-perspectives-sur vey-2021-vol-iii/ Hill, N. (2022, November 22). American Climate Perspectives Survey 2022, vol. V: Bi-partisan American attitudes: It’s time for urgent climate action . ecoAmerica. https:// ecoamerica.org/american-climate-perspec tives-survey-2022-vol-v-blog/ Lancet Countdown. (2022). The 2022 Global Report of the Lancet Countdown . https:// www.lancetcountdown.org/2022-report/ Lindsey, R. (2022, June 23). Climate change: Atmospheric carbon dioxide. Climate.gov . https://www.climate.gov/news-features/ understanding-climate/climate-change- atmospheric-carbon-dioxide National Environmental Health Association. (2018). Declaration on 100% clean energy by 2030 . https://www.neha.org/clean-energy National Environmental Health Association. (2020). Policy statement on climate change . https://www.neha.org/Images/resources/ NEHA-Policy-Statement-Climate-Change- Oct2020.pdf Rewiring America. (n.d.). Your guide to the Inflation Reduction Act . https://www.rewir ingamerica.org/IRAguide Song, K., Qu, S., Taiebat, M., Liang, S., & Xu, M. (2019). Scale, distribution and variations of global greenhouse gas emissions driven by U.S. households. Environment International , 133 (Part A), Article 105137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. envint.2019.105137 UNICEF. (2021, August 19). The impacts of climate change put almost every child at risk . https://www.unicef.org/stories/impacts-cli mate-change-put-almost-every-child-risk The White House. (n.d.). Clean energy for all . https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/
paralysis. Taking action as an environmental health professional, as a community leader, and as an individual will help us all to secure safety and health. Corresponding Author: Nicole Hill, Research and Marketing Manager, ecoAmerica, 1730 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Suite 200, Wash- ington, DC 20036. Email: nicoleh@ecoamerica.org. References Energy Star. (n.d.). Methodology for estimated energy savings from cost-e ective air sealing and insulating . https://www.energystar.gov/ campaign/seal_insulate/methodology Hill, N. (2021, May 26). American Climate Perspectives Survey 2021, vol. III: The rural– urban divide on climate change. Where’s the polarization? ecoAmerica. https://ecoamer “A health-centred, low-carbon response oers a renewed opportunity to deliver a future in which world populations can not only survive, but thrive.” Lancet Countdown, 2022
Jurisdictions can review our Climate Health Adaptation and Mitigation Partnership (CHAMP) and strategic framework at www.neha.org/climate-change. CHAMP can be used to identify climate-related health risks, develop climate adaptation plans, and implement targeted adaptation actions to protect communities. The program provides an opportunity to share lessons learned, stories of impact, and resources. The program also helps communities make progress toward meeting Healthy People 2030 objectives, raises awareness about how climate change disproportionately impacts health, and incorporates the Building Resilience Against Climate Eects (BRACE) framework from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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