“Vital and Urgent” for G7 Nations to Phase Out Coal

Statement from Dr. Linda Rudolph, Director of the Public Health Institute’s Center for Climate Change and Health

The Public Health Institute and its Center for Climate Change and Health join health professionals around the world today in calling for all G7 nations to aggressively move away from coal-fired electricity. We urge strong action not just at an international or national level, but also statewide in California and in our home base of Oakland. Shifting away from coal-fired power as quickly as possible is vital and urgent—to protect us from the long term impacts of catastrophic climate change, and to protect our health today from coal air pollution.

President Obama’s Clean Power Plan would significantly reduce harmful air and carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants in the US, with substantial and rapid benefits to health here. Many states in the U.S.—including California—are also rapidly increasing use of clean and renewable energy and the costs of renewable energy are now competitive with dirty energy sources. But it’s simply not enough to make changes at home; we must take concrete actions to support change worldwide.

That’s why we also oppose efforts to build a coal export terminal in Oakland: the export of coal through our communities to other countries (mainly in Asia), where communities are already seeing reduced lifespans from coal air pollution, is bad for our health and bad for the health of the planet.

The policy priorities of our Center for Climate Change and Health call for efforts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions across sectors, along with the systems that produce them. Reducing our use of coal-fired electricity and moving toward more sustainable and renewable energy sources will move us one step closer to achieving those priorities.

Help spread the word with a tweet: “Vital & urgent” for G7 nations to phase out #coal, says @phidotorg @ClimateHealthCx. Find out why: http://bit.ly/27wxKaT #ActOnClimate