Testimony of Barbara Gottlieb 

Director of Environment and Health, Physicians for Social Responsibility 

Before the Environmental Protection Agency 

On Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602 

July 20, 2014 — Washington, DC 

Good afternoon. My name is Barbara Gottlieb (spell). I am the Director of Environment and 

Health at Physicians for Social Responsibility, a national organization of health professionals 

addressing the greatest threats to health and survival. 

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to health and survival, which is why Physicians for 

Social Responsibility applauds the EPA for introducing this necessary and important rule. PSR 

is proud to support this rule as a welcome first step towards slashing our emissions of carbon 

nationwide. Greatly reducing carbon pollution, as quickly as we prudently can, is the most 

important thing our society can do to address climate change. And that is necessary to protect 

our health. 

Climate change threatens health in multiple, serious ways. 

• As heat increases, we see more ozone formation, which can trigger an increase in asthma 

attacks, aggravate other chronic lung diseases, and aggravate pre-existing heart problems 

like angina. 

• Heat waves increase the risk of heat stroke, especially for the elderly and for people 

living in urban heat islands. Heat stroke can be fatal. 

• Higher temperatures expand the ranges of disease-carrying insects. For us in the U.S., 

that means new populations exposed to West Nile virus, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain 

spotted fever. Higher temperatures also mean that mosquitoes reproduce more rapidly 

and bite more frequently. 

• Climate change makes heavy intense downpours and flooding more common. In rural 

areas, flooding and runoff pick up animal wastes, pesticides, and fertilizers. In cities, 

they carry pollutants and also overwhelm sewage systems, causing untreated sewage to 

flow into drinking water and recreational water sources. This can contaminate water with 

bacteria, viruses, and protozoa that can trigger outbreaks of diarrheal diseases (legionella, 

campylobacter, and cholera). 

• Wildfires: Besides burns and death, wildfires also greatly increase exposure to 

particulate matter. That worsens respiratory conditions such as allergies, asthma, and 

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- and also increases heart attacks and lung cancer. 
• Climate change is already affecting our food supply and our water supply, and if we don't 

reduce carbon pollution, it's only going to get worse. Estimates vary, but for every 

1.8°Fahrenheit increase in global average surface temperature, we can expect about a 

10% decline in yields of the world's major grain crops— corn, soybean, rice and wheat. 

• Climate change also contributes to displacement, stress, psychological effects, conflict, 

and war. The war in Syria has been linked to that country's years of drought, and conflict 

and violence may increase in many places as food and water supplies constrict. 

Those are some of the reasons the physicians, nurses, other health practitioners and public health 

professionals in Physicians for Social Responsibility recognize this rule as urgent and necessary. 

At the same time, it is not sufficient. Our organization strongly recommends the following: 

• Call for greater reliance on energy efficiency and renewable energy. They should be the 

preferred solutions that states pursue in meeting their carbon reduction targets. 

• Remove nuclear power from the list of options. Nuclear power produces carcinogenic 

wastes that can be spilled or released into the environment, as we witnessed at 

Fukushima... and Chernobyl... and Three Mile Island... Those wastes remain lethal to 

human beings essentially forever. 

• Don't encourage natural gas as an alternative to coal. Scientists have documented that 

natural gas extraction, specifically extraction using hydraulic fracturing, allows far more 

methane to escape into the atmosphere than was previously thought. Methane is a much 

more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Over a 100-year timeframe, it's 34 

times more potent. But over a 20-year timeframe – and that is the timeframe that matters, 

given how quickly climate change is advancing – the IPCC tells us that it is 86 times 

more potent. That's devastating. It means that natural gas is terribly damaging to the 

climate and should not be pursued. 

• I know you'11 get a lot of pushback on this one, but we at PSR call on you to increase the 

target levels for CO2 reductions by the states. If we are to keep our planet at a cool, 

healthy temperature, protect our families, sustain food production and water supplies, and 

fend off increasing risk of disease, much greater CO2 reductions are needed. 

Physicians for Social Responsibility calls on you to finThank you.