Washington, D.C. (Apr. 29, 2019)—On Tuesday, April 30, 2019, the Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing on “Climate Change, Part II: The Public Health Effects.”

WHERE: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

WHEN: Tuesday, April 30, 2019

TIME: 2:00 p.m.

The hearing is open to the public, and a livestream will be broadcast here.

PURPOSE

The hearing will focus on the public health effects of climate change, including the severe health impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations such as seniors, children, and low-income communities, and the role the federal government can play in responding to these public health challenges.

BACKGROUND

In 2018, the Trump Administration released the Fourth National Climate Assessment, which found that “[c]limate change creates new risks and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities in communities across the United States, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth.”

The Assessment also found that the “impacts from climate change on extreme weather and climate-related events, air quality, and the transmission of disease through insects and pests, food, and water increasingly threaten the health and well-being of the American people, particularly populations that are already vulnerable.”

The Trump Administration has taken numerous steps that benefit the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the health of the American people. For example, the Trump Administration has proposed rolling back the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan, seeking to freeze mile-per-gallon standards for cars and light trucks after the 2020 model year, and attacking California's more stringent emissions standards.

The Trump Administration has also fostered a hostile culture at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), causing some employees to “self-censor,” according to the former National Program Director of the Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program at the EPA.

Earlier this month, Chairman Elijah E. Cummings convened a full committee hearing to examine the need for leadership to combat climate change and protect national security. The same day, the Subcommittee on the Environment Chairman Harley Rouda held a hearing on the history of scientific opinion about climate change and the reasons for inaction.

WITNESSES

Karen DeSalvo, M.D.

Professor of Medicine and Population Health

Dell Medical School

The University of Texas at Austin

Bernard D. Goldstein, M.D.

Professor Emeritus, Environmental and Occupational Health

Graduate School of Public Health

University of Pittsburgh

Aaron Bernstein, M.D.

Co-Director of the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment

T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Harvard University

Cheryl L. Holder, M.D.

Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Florida Clinicians for Climate Action

Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

Florida International University

Caleb S. Rossiter, Ph.D.

Executive Director

CO2 Coalition