CONTACT: Sasha Tenenbaum
Senior Manager, Media and Public Engagement
stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org
(917) 887-0146
WASHINGTON, DC—This week, two major climate reports were published: the Fifth National Climate Assessment and the 2023 Lancet Countdown Report. Both reports outline in stark detail the climate harms that face us not only in the future, but also in the present: hazards like extreme heat, wildfires, intense storms, and worsening food insecurity already threaten our physical and mental health. Yet both reports also name in no uncertain terms that solutions are at hand, and that ambitious action now to reduce fossil fuel pollution can and must be taken to ensure a healthy future for all. In response, Moms Clean Air Force Senior Policy Analyst Elizabeth Bechard issued the following statement:
“Families around the world are already feeling the impacts of climate change on their everyday lives. In this week’s release of both the Fifth National Climate Assessment and the 2023 Lancet Countdown Report, scientists and health experts are ringing the alarm bells for all of us who care about children and the world in which we are raising them. Here in the US, nearly every part of the country has seen devastating climate-driven extreme weather in the past year, from harrowing heat waves across southern states to unprecedented rainfall in California and New England. In June, almost a third of the people in the US—more than 100 million—were exposed to harmful air pollution from wildfire smoke, and just two months later, Hawaii experienced the deadliest US wildfire in over 100 years.
“Children’s still-developing bodies, behavioral patterns, and social environments make them uniquely vulnerable to nearly every kind of climate threat. When storms and wildfires damage homes and displace communities, mental health impacts can linger for children who experience trauma at a critical phase in their development. When temperatures rise, babies and children are at higher risk for heat-related illnesses, like heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Air pollution from fossil fuel combustion and wildfires can interfere with children’s lung development, increasing the risk of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Families suffer when it’s unsafe for children to go outside to play because it’s too hot or the air is too smoky to breathe, as millions of us experienced this past summer. Extreme heat and air pollution endanger children’s health before they are born: both have been linked to adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight, premature birth, and heartbreakingly, even stillbirth.
“All families will feel the impact of climate change. But this week’s new reports underline, once again, the reality that systemic racism and other forms of oppression exacerbate climate harms. Communities that already experience health inequities will see these inequities magnified as the toll of climate change mounts in the coming years, making it essential for climate solutions to center the needs of those most vulnerable to climate threats.
“These reports are deeply painful to read. Yet they are also strikingly clear that we are not powerless: as we raise children in the liminal space between what has been and what can still be, every action we take to reduce climate heating matters. Every increment of fossil fuel pollution avoided means less suffering for families and children, both those alive today and those yet to be born. The US has made historic investments in climate action over the last few years, and we are making progress in reducing fossil fuel pollution, but this progress is not happening fast enough to ensure the healthy future our children deserve.
“As the National Climate Assessment states, ‘the degree to which climate change will continue to worsen is largely in human hands.’ So as Moms, we will continue to use our hands and our voices to advocate for climate action that meets the urgency and possibility of this moment. We will continue to advocate for a just transition to clean energy and for climate solutions that prioritize the needs of children and other vulnerable populations. We know that there is no time to waste.”
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