August 2014
The week, the ATS participated a in series of field hearings to collect input on EPA's proposal to limit carbon pollution emissions from existing power plants. ATS member and Health Policy Committee Chair Ivor Douglas MD testified at the Denver hearing and provided case examples of how climate change is already impacting patient with respiratory disease. ATS member Sally Wenzel MD testified at the Pittsburgh hearing and noted that reducing carbon emissions will also reduce other air pollutants like ozone and particulate matter – creating significant health co-benefits of addressing carbon emissions. At the D.C. hearing, ATS staff shared a copy of the ATS workshop report: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report: Climate Change and Human Health . The ATS workshop document summarizes the known and projected respiratory health effects of climate change.
