The National Medical Association opposes the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan and replacement with the Affordable Clean Energy or “ACE” rule.
Since our founding nearly 120 years ago, the National Medical Association has faithfully carried out our mission to represent the interests of over 50,000 African-American physicians and the patients we serve. It is our firm belief that enactment of the ACE plan contradicts the core principles of our organization and harms the health of our patients, who already suffer disproportionately from the health effects of climate change.
The increased emissions attributable to the proposed ACE rule will negatively affect the immediate health of all members of the country and will disproportionately affect children, seniors, low-income people, those with chronic disease and many communities of color.
According to the NAACP, 68 percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant, and an additional one million live within one half-mile of natural gas facilities. This proximity to fossil fuel facilities places these communities at risk of increased exposure, magnifying the potential for heart and respiratory disease.
A study of our members conducted in 2014 revealed that 88 percent of African-American physicians are already seeing health effects of climate change in our patients. From exacerbation of preexisting cardiac and respiratory disease to injury from severe weather, our patients are affected more often than the general population.
The most common cause of weather-related death is heat stroke. This death occurs most commonly in elderly, urban shut-ins who do not have air conditioning or cannot afford to use it. With climate change, northern cities like Chicago and Philadelphia are now at highest risk.
The National Medical Association recognizes climate change as a threat to the health, well-being, and longevity of the human species and advocates for policies that address root drivers of this problem. Although the entire population will feel the burden of climate change, low-income urban communities of color are less equipped to adapt to increasing climate stressors.
We, as African-American physicians, are called upon to respond to the needs of those who do not have the ability to evacuate from locations of hurricanes and floods such as those from the recent storms in North Carolina, Texas, and Florida.
The proposed ACE rule will accelerate this climate change when compared to the Clean Power Plan. By 2030 alone, we expect to see 1,400 more premature deaths and 120,000 more asthma attacks if the ACE rule is enacted. Therefore, I voice our opposition to this proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan with the ACE rule, and it is why we urge you to reaffirm policies that reduce both immediate and long-term health risks to all, as well as reducing health disparities.
Edited from testimony given in opposition to the Proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule to Replace the Clean Power Plan.
Dr. Niva Lubin-Johnson is the 119th president of the National Medical Association and a general internist residing in Chicago.
