Toolkit: Climate Change and Health

Published: 3/12/2025

The American College of Physicians believes that physicians and the broader health care community should engage in environmentally sustainable practices that reduce carbon emissions, support efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, and educate others about the health risks posed by climate change. By addressing climate change, we can not only avert environmental catastrophe but also gain public health improvements such as cleaner air and better respiratory health from reduced dirty fuel use and improved cardiovascular health through more active transportation like walking and cycling.

ACTION:

ACP members can access members-only actionable materials.

Background

In November 2022, the Annals of Internal Medicine published Environmental Health: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians, which sought to inform physicians about environmental health and offer policymakers recommendations to reduce the adverse health consequences of climate change, improve air and water quality, reduce exposure to toxic substances, and address environmental injustice. This paper built on ACP’s 2016 paper Climate Change and Health, which responded to a Board of Regents-approved resolution that called on the College to support efforts to address research, education and response to the medical consequences of climate change. ACP’s policy recognizes that human and planetary health are interconnected, and that climate change is a global human and environmental health crisis requiring immediate action to limit global temperature rise.

The World Health Organization calls climate change “the single biggest threat facing humanity” and highlights that “health professionals worldwide are already responding to the health harms caused by this unfolding crisis.” In March 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body responsible for assessing the science related to climate change, issued its 6th Synthesis Report with a warning that the pace and scale of current climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change.  The report found that widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have already occurred with global temperatures then about 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.  The IPCC reports that “there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all,” and that those who have historically contributed the least to climate change are being disproportionately impacted.  ACP has called for immediate climate action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a milestone the IPCC has identified as a tipping point and warned we will likely pass sometime in the 2030s if current trends continue, beyond which the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods, and food shortages are significantly increased. The period between February 2023 and January 2024 was the first 12-month period to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as an average.

Despite these challenges, physicians can help address climate change by reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in their own practices, advocating for climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, and learning about how climate change affects their community.

Federal Activity

In August 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which contained the most comprehensive set of funding and policies designed to mitigate climate change.  The IRA included a charge for methane emissions, support for clean energy, tax credits to encourage the purchase of electric vehicle, funding for agricultural conservation, and investments in community-led projects and infrastructure. All together, these provisions were expected to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. ACP supported the IRA through letters to Congress and public statements.

Despite the urgent need for action to address climate change, the Trump Administration has rolled back dozens of federal climate change-related measures.  The Trump Administration has declared a national “energy emergency” and pledged to expand oil and gas production, withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords, and is attempting to dismantle elements of the IRA, including non-binding goals and incentives for the purchasing of electric vehicles. ACP remains committed to supporting federal climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts and will continue to defend the IRA, combat mis- and disinformation, and advocate for policies to safeguard human and environmental health.

ACP has joined other medical organizations, in part through work as founding member of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, in advocating for Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to support action that would reduce air pollution, and to speak out to oppose attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act and repeal emissions reduction programs.  ACP has joined amicus briefs supporting the EPA’s authority to regulate vehicle tailpipe emissions and set emissions standards for future model year vehicles. ACP also has called for increasing funding to the National Center for Environmental Health at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in support of funding initiatives including lead poisoning prevention, strengthening state programs in the National Asthma Control Program, and expanding the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network nationwide.

For more information about ACP’s advocacy related to Climate Change, see “Where We Stand.”

State Activity

While recent federal action is concerning, most states have set their own policy goals to address climate change and its health impacts, especially as environmental priorities have shifted across different presidential administrations and Congresses.  32 states and DC have adopted or are developing climate change action plans, and 25 states and DC have set targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.  29 states, DC, and three U.S. territories have Renewable Portfolio Standards for what percentage of renewable energy they aim to generate from renewable sources by a target date, and multiple states have set goals for eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.  Other states have established policies on carbon pricing as well as standards relating to transportation emissions and low carbon and alternative fuels.  A bipartisan group of state governors representing the majority of the U.S. population and economic activity formed the United States Climate Alliance to work at the state level to limit warming and meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accords.   

States have also passed competing policies on the issue of zero emissions building standards that would ban natural gas in residential and/or commercial buildings, with at least four states and 104 local governments across the country establishing such standards while at least 20 states have passed legislation prohibiting localities from implementing a similar ban.  Ohio in 2023 became the first state to define natural gas as a “green energy” source in state law despite its main component being the greenhouse gas methane, and proponents are working to pass similar legislation in other states.

In addition to supporting state chapters with climate-related policy issues, ACP has advocated with federal regulators in support of state climate action.  In August 2022 and August 2024, ACP joined other health organizations in writing letters to the EPA in support of granting waivers to approve California’s clean air programs, including standards to regulate emissions from the heavy vehicle transportation sector.

References