Combating Climate Change and Health Risks through a Carbon Fee
No one is safe from the effects of climate change. That's the key takeaway from a March report by nearly a dozen highly respected medical organizations that studied the link between climate change and risks to our health. And these aren't far-off impacts or theoretical dangers: human-driven climate change is already making people sick.
Here's just one example: A woman in southwestern Pennsylvania who had never heard of Lyme disease saw five of her friends contract the illness in recent years because of warmer weather that led to a longer season for blacklegged (deer) ticks. She has since had her dog vaccinated against the disease and checks her children for ticks on a regular basis.
It's not just people in blacklegged tick country who are at risk for negative health impacts related to climate change and its causes. Low-income communities and communities of color are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and fossil fuel pollution. Communities of color are exposed to nearly 40 percent more pollution than predominantly white communities, and 68 percent of all African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant. Additionally, low-income communities are financially disadvantaged when it …
- 1 (current)
