Climate Crisis is A Public Health Emergency

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEXTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to declare that climate crisis is a public health emergency, and the Federal Government must treat it as such.

In the last decade, more than half of the 120 public health emergency declarations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services were a result of climate-related events: extreme heat, wildfire smoke, hurricanes, floods, and the spread of disease.

Last week, I introduced the Climate Health Emergency Act to address this reality head-on. It directs the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the climate crisis a public health emergency.

This declaration will unlock emergency powers and coordination to allow an effective response to the rapidly escalating public health threat posed by climate change. Enabling interagency coordination, this bill will break down silos, maximizing our ability to effectively and efficiently respond.

As a lung and critical care physician, I have seen the direct harm climate change has on our patients: organs shutting down from heat exposure and lungs failing from smoke inhalation. I will not stand by silently as our government continues to fail to meet this crisis with the urgency it so demands.

Madam Speaker, I urge your support. Our children deserve a healthy future. Our job is to fight for it.

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