As a pediatrician in Utah, I have the honor of witnessing the deep love parents have for their children: a mother who wakes up through the night to give her child with lung disease inhaled medicines, a father who recognizes a change in his child’s breathing and advocates for a transfer to the hospital’s intensive care unit.
I am humbled daily by the bravery I see in Utah parents and by the dedication of the nurses, doctors and therapists I work alongside. Today, I’m asking for Utah parents and health professionals to join me in advocating to protect the health of Utah’s kids.
Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a plan to end a policy called “the Endangerment Finding,” which is the scientific foundation for regulating greenhouse gas pollution to protect public health. This policy underpins clean vehicle standards, a key tool to curb the major source of air pollution within Wasatch Front communities. If successful, the repeal of this policy will directly harm the health and wellbeing of Utah’s children today and in future generations.
When I was a medical student, wildfires raged outside the city where I trained, and the sky turned orange as smoke filled the air. I realized that my duty to serve patients had to go beyond the walls of the hospital.
I feel that same duty now in Utah, especially when our summer days are so hot that it’s hard for kids to play outside. In Utah, climate change is causing hotter and drier summers. Children, particularly infants, young athletes and those with chronic health conditions, are at elevated risk for heat-related illness.
These hotter and drier conditions are also worsening our air quality. They do this by fueling larger, more frequent wildfires in the Western U.S. and by further drying the Great Salt Lake. Utah scientists have found harmful metals including arsenic in the bare lakebed, raising concern that dust storms may expose Wasatch Front communities to these toxins. Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, as they breathe faster than adults and their organs are still developing. Air pollution exposure in pregnancy increases the risk of children being born prematurely. There is emerging evidence that wildfire smoke may be even more harmful to children than other types of air pollution. These are the health realities of climate change in Utah, and we cannot ignore them.
This reality is echoed by leading U.S. medical organizations that have warned of serious health risks from climate change. The American Medical Association declared climate change “a public health crisis that threatens the health and wellbeing of all people.” The American Academy of Pediatrics has called on pediatricians and policymakers to protect children’s health through climate action, and offers practical tips to protect kids when faced with extreme heat and air pollution.
Scientists around the world overwhelmingly agree that climate change is caused by human activities. The largest cause is burning fossil fuels, a practice championed by large energy corporations despite their knowledge of the health risks.
Because human activities are driving climate change, we have the power to make decisions — in our own lives, our communities, and our country — that worsen or heal this problem. In Utah, youth have shown leadership, taking legal action against the state for its fossil fuel development policies, arguing that they violate the rights of children under the state constitution. And non-partisan, non-profit organizations, including hospitals in our state, are working on solutions like energy-efficient affordable housing and buildings, renewable energy, and cleaner transportation.
The EPA has tremendous power to accelerate or hinder our progress toward a healthy climate and healthier communities. As a concerned Utahn, you can protect the EPA’s ability to limit climate-heating pollution by signing onto this letter from the American Lung Association by September 17.
If you are a health professional, you can take action here in two ways: Urge leaders of your professional societies to join in opposing the repeal of the Endangerment Finding by September 17, and submit a public comment by September 22.
If we act now, and together, we can protect clean air and water for Utah’s kids.