The Consortium’s Statement on the Clean Air Act and New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure

The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, representing 700,000 physicians around the country, is on the frontlines of responding to the health impacts of air pollution and climate change. We know that climate change is already harming our patients in every community across the U.S. As a result, health and medical groups celebrated the passage of clean energy investments in 2022 because a transition from burning fossil fuels to clean energy will save thousands of lives every year and prevent tens of thousands of asthma and heart attacks.

As physicians, we care deeply about keeping our patients and their families healthy. While critical policy discussions on our energy future are underway, we affirm the importance of laws that keep our air clean, reduce climate change risks, and provide financial support to households for appliances and vehicles that clean the air in our homes and neighborhoods. Putting resources into new fossil fuel energy would worsen air pollution, sicken our patients, and worsen climate change, especially when it costs more than clean and renewable energy. We cannot place the financial interests of the fossil fuel industry above the health of our communities, and we will continue to support a transition to cleaner renewable forms of technology.

You can learn more about current policy discussions here.