Strategic oil reserves are alive and well
| Hybrid cars and diesel cars compete With high prices and rising energy costs, more Americans are buying alternative fuel autos, including diesel, hybrids, and ethanol fuel vehicles. |
| Tree 4 All Begins April 17 Spring has arrived! We’re digging in the dirt and counting trees again this year. The Mile High Million’s 2008 spring planting season begins on April 17 and runs through mid-May. Events will take place throughout the metro area. Some events still need volunteers! Find an event near you | Find an event near you | Register your tree |
| Press Release: First Nationwide Climate Change Survey of Public Health Departments Shows Lack of Resources for Dealing with Health Challenge For Immediate Release
Jennifer Dickson, Environmental Defense Fund, (202) 572-3401 or (202) 520-1221
Becky Wexler, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), (301) 652-1558
Tara Laskowski, George Mason University, (703) 993-8815
(Washington, D.C. - April 24, 2008) Climate change is a concern to most local public health directors but few have resources to tackle the problem, according to a national survey conducted by National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and George Mason University. The survey, included in the report Are We Ready? Preparing for the Public Health Challenges of Climate Change, is the first national one of its kind that assesses the perceptions and activities of local public health directors regarding climate change and public health. More than half of the surveyed directors are concerned about the health effects of climate change on their jurisdictions, though only a small group has been able to make adaptation or prevention a priority.
“Local health departments recognize that climate change imperils the health of their communities. It is essential that they gain the new knowledge and sustained resources needed to help them prepare for the increased severity of health-threatening problems that we can expect, from long-term heat waves to increased populations of disease-bearing mosquitoes,” said Patrick Libbey, Executive Director of NACCHO.
The majority of health directors said they perceived a lack of knowledge about climate change both within their health department and among other key stakeholders in their communities; a lack of adaptation and mitigation planning expertise in the public health community at large; and significant financial and human resource limitations on their ability to respond to climate change. Of the directors surveyed:
“These findings show that while public health officials recognize the need to be prepared for adverse health impacts from climate change, there are serious gaps in the U.S. public health system’s ability to meet that need,” said Dr. John Balbus, Environmental Defense Fund’s Chief Health Scientist and lead author of the report. “With public health departments already stretched thin by increasing demands and decreasing federal assistance, the additional challenges posed by climate change threaten to put more people in harm’s way.”
Recommendations from the report focus on protecting preventing climate-related health dangers by ensuring the responsiveness and efficiency of the public health system; preventing climate-related disease as much as possible by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to levels required to avoid climate change’s most severe effects; and enhancing public health by aligning desirable goals like reductions in greenhouse gasses with critical public health goals.
“As Congress debates climate change solutions, we hope they too will see the importance of ensuring that communities have the resources available to deal with the health impacts,” said Balbus. “We must be ready on the local level to handle climate change implications.”
Are We Ready? Preparing for the Public Health Challenges of Climate Change is the first nationally representative survey to assess the perceptions and activities of local public health directors regarding climate change and public health. One hundred and thirty-three local health department directors from across the country answered a series of questions meant to assess their perceptions of climate change and its potential public health effects; their communities’ level of preparedness for the health impacts of climate change; their current activities to prevent or mitigate climate change; and their opinions on necessary resources to best address climate change.
“Our research identified practical steps that can be taken to help local health departments protect the public’s health from climate change,” said Ed Maibach, professor and director of George Mason University’s Center of Excellence in Climate Change Communication Research and co-author of the report. “With the necessary resources, health departments have a significantly better chance at keeping their communities healthy, both now and as climate change progresses in the near future.”
The full report is available for download at edf.org/areweready.
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NACCHO is the national organization representing the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments. These agencies work every day on the front lines to protect and promote the health of their communities. NACCHO develops resources and programs and promotes national policies that support effective local public health practice.
A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.
George Mason University, located in the heart of Northern Virginia’s technology corridor near Washington, D.C., is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in a range of academic fields. With strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering, information technology, biotechnology and health care, Mason prepares its students to succeed in the work force and meet the needs of the region and the world.
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| Landfill Gas Capture: Cutting Emissions and Saving Money Proven technologies are available at a commercial scale to significantly and cheaply cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions1 (See Climate Facts). The well-respected consulting firm McKinsey & Company found in their recent analysis that the U.S. industrial sector alone can cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 23% or more from projected levels in 2030, using existing technologies.How? Some companies are capturing non-CO2 greenhouse gases from landfills. Methane, the main gas in landfill emissions, is 25 times more potent in terms of warming potential than CO2 and it’s released from landfills across the country as a natural byproduct as waste decomposes. Although normally lost to the atmosphere, some companies have started to turn these emissions into fuel - reducing potent methane emissions and fuel costs.One such company, Interface Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia, calls its landfill gas project a "triple bottom line" win2. In 2003, the award winning carpet manufacturing company partnered with the city of LaGrange, GA, to capture emissions from a local landfill and use it to power its facility there.As a result, Interface has decreased natural gas consumption at its LaGrange facility by 20%3, resulting in significantly lower fuel costs and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. As Interface says, this solution "can be a model for other local cities in Georgia and the Southeast and a model for other manufacturers in the country."Landfill gas capture is just one of the many industrial solutions McKinsey & Co. reported are widely available today. And, as Interface has learned, these emissions reduction technologies can also benefit the company budget.But even though some companies like Interface are already applying carbon-cutting technology solutions today, we need a strong federal program to cut greenhouse gas emissions to spur wider deployment across the country. The McKinsey & Co. report recommended "strong, coordinated, economy-wide action" if the U.S. is to realize the full potential of the technologies we already have to cut emissions deeply.We already have the technologies to cut our industrial emissions steeply and cheaply - but we can realize their full potential only if Congress acts. It’s time to cap emissions now. 1 Reducing US Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?, conducted by McKinsey & Company and published jointly with the Conference Board in November , 2007. 2 Interface fact sheet: A "Cool" Approach to Climate Change [PDF]3 Interface Flooring System Uses Landfill Gas to Power Plant
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