[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 5, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H2707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CLIMATE CHANGE IS HARMING OUR HEALTH
(Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, Earth Day 2017 provides an important
opportunity to raise awareness of the consequences of President Trump's
executive action abandoning meaningful progress on climate. Left
unchecked, climate change will continue to harm the health and safety
of our communities. That is why the American Public Health Association
declared 2017 as the Year of Climate Change and Health.
Seasonal changes, higher temperature, droughts, and severe storms are
leading to more heat-related illnesses and death, increased asthma
attacks, and more severe allergies. The scientific evidence is clear:
climate change endangers human health. The health harms of climate
change led 11 medical societies to form the Medical Society Consortium
on Climate and Health, which recently issued a report titled: ``Medical
Alert! Climate Change Is Harming Our Health.''
One of the consortium doctors said: ``The worst-case scenarios of
climate change really worry me. It would mean a level of human
suffering we can hardly contemplate, much less respond to.''
Mr. Speaker, we can't allow that to happen. This problem demands
immediate action, not denial, and certainly not delay.
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