[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 57 (Thursday, April 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2937-S2938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, today I talk about public health. As I 
hope many of my colleagues are aware, this week is National Public 
Health Week, and this year's goal is to increase the Nation's awareness 
of the serious effects of global warming on the public's health.
  When I say global warming, people think of many things. You might 
think of polar bears, vanishing glaciers, or rising sea levels, but you 
are not likely to think of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. This is unfortunate because there is a direct connection 
between global warming and the health of our Nation.
  A warming planet will affect food, water, shelter, and the spread of 
infectious diseases. At the same time, we will face more extreme 
weather events. Storms, floods, droughts, and heat waves will have an 
acute impact, particularly on hundreds of millions of people in the 
developing world.
  Climate change is very much a public health issue.
  The science behind global warming is no longer debatable. Scientists 
from around the globe have stated in the strongest possible terms that 
the climate is changing, and human activity is to blame. These changes 
are already dramatically affecting human health around the world.
  The World Health Organization reported that the climate change which 
occurred from 1961 to 1990 may already be causing over 150,000 deaths 
or the loss of over 5.5 million disability-adjusted life years annually 
starting in 2000.
  These numbers are staggering, but they should not be surprising: 
climate change influences our living environment on the most 
fundamental level, which means it affects the basic biological 
functions critical to life.
  It impacts the air we breathe and the food available for us to eat. 
It impacts the availability of our drinking water and the spread of 
diseases that can make us sick.
  Last year's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report 
on climate change put to rest the arguments of many skeptics. But the 
frequently cited report of Working Group One is just one of three 
separate IPCC reports. Working Group Two simultaneously issued a 
sobering report on the impacts of climate change. They predicted that 
up to 250 million people across Africa could face water shortages by 
2020, and that agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50 percent. 
Crop yields in central and South Asia could drop by 30 percent. People 
everywhere who depend on glaciers or snow pack for their drinking water 
will be forced to find new supplies.
  This is not speculation. These effects are already measurable. The 
World Health Organization predicts that asthma deaths will rise by 20 
percent over the next 10 years, and that climate change is causing 
greater outbreaks of Rift Valley fever and the spread of malaria in 
higher elevations in Africa, and more frequent cholera epidemics in 
Bangladesh. The CDC is preparing for more heat-wave planning and 
forecasting.
  The public health costs of global climate change are likely to be 
greatest to the nations of the world who have contributed least to the 
problem. As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, we have a 
moral obligation to help these countries, which are also least likely 
to have the resources to prepare or respond themselves. Any strategies 
for managing climate change impacts must address this unequal burden, 
and to take into account their unique challenges and needs.
  These impacts are different in different parts of the world--and 
equally troubling, they are disproportionately burdensome for the 
world's more vulnerable populations. Children, the elderly, the poor, 
and those with chronic and other health conditions are the most 
vulnerable to the negative health impacts of climate change.
  There is growing recognition that we must act, and we must act now. 
Fortunately, many of the choices individuals should make for the sake 
of their health--and the health of their communities--are the same 
choices that benefit the health of the planet. Making the climate 
change issue real means helping people understand how the way they live 
affects themselves and others, whether through their transportation 
choices, their use of water and electricity or the types of goods they 
purchase and consume.

[[Page S2938]]

  What is good to reduce global warming is good for public health, and 
the shift away from fossil fuels and a movement toward general 
environmental awareness aligns with existing public health goals.
  Clean, renewable energy means less dependence on fossil fuels. The 
combination of less coal and cleaner coal leads to a host of health 
benefits. Fewer particulate emissions mean less asthma. Reduced mercury 
emissions could lead to fewer developmental disorders.
  The transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse 
gases. Encouraging and enabling people to walk, bicycle, or use public 
transportation reduces vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and improves 
urban air quality. But it simultaneously improves an individual's 
health by increasing physical activity. Improving community design to 
reduce reliance on cars also means less obesity and diabetes. We should 
be encouraging States to design and create healthy communities.
  We cannot wait to act. We should all continue to work toward national 
and international policies which fight global warming. And we will make 
sure that we act justly and help the poorest countries, which are 
hardest hit by this problem.
  And we can start now. Now is the time to prepare our water, 
agricultural, and disease prevention systems for a warmer planet. Now 
is also the time to invest in renewable energy and to build pedestrian 
and bicycle friendly cities. What is good for the planet is good for 
public health, and I encourage everyone to remember that solutions to a 
global problem can have immediate, individual benefits.

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