NEWS RELEASE

For more information: Mary Smythe, 920.854.3330

Joel Charles, M.D./M.P.H. will speak on “The Climate Crisis and American Health: Turning from Threat to Opportunity” at the Feb. 17 meeting of the Climate Change Coalition of Door County.The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. at the Crossroads at Big Creek, 2041 Michigan St., Sturgeon Bay. Charles will discuss the most recent findings on climate change, how it will affect our health and how current energy practices impact health. He will offer clear policy prescriptions and suggest actions health professionals and others can take to address these issues.  

Joel Charles is a family medicine resident in Santa Rosa, California, who in his Master of Public Health program focused on the health impacts of climate change. A tireless advocate for climate policy, he is helping build a network to give health professionals efficient, effective ways to make health a central piece of the climate change conversation. He is also organizing an effort to help climate activists become literate in the health impacts of climate change.

After completing his residency he will return home to rural Wisconsin to practice medicine.“The climate crisis is a human health problem and a human health opportunity,” Charles says.

“Climate change threatens the fundamentals necessary for our health, and delaying action only deepens the danger. But transitioning to clean energy, efficiency, and smarter transportation systems makes sense regardless of climate change because fossil fuels have been making us sick for over a century.”

According to Charles, fossil fuels contribute to four of the five leading causes of death in the U.S., including heart disease, stroke, and lung disease, while putting children at risk of asthma and delayed mental development. Replacing coal alone through efficiency and clean energy could save 10,000 lives and $60 billion each year in health related damages, and indeed the International Panel on Climate Change and the World Health Organization agree that savings from these health benefits could offset a significant portion of the costs of preventing climate change.

“In effect fossil fuels are subsidized through our health care system,” Charles observes. “They only seem cheap because we pay the price in poor health and higher insurance premiums. To shift toward healthier energy the market price of fossil fuels must reflect their true cost.”

The Feb. 17 meeting is free and open to the public.

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