Nevada State Medical Association Endorses Carbon Pricing

• Climate change is already adversely affecting human health and human systems in the United States, and health care should play a leading role in addressing climate change. [1]
• According to the 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment, the health and well-being of Americans, especially populations that are already vulnerable, are increasingly threatened by climate change impacts on extreme weather, air quality, and the transmission of disease through insects and pests, food, and water. [2]
• Recent research by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests the need to limit warming to 1.5°C to avert the considerable risks to human health, livelihoods, food and water supplies, security, and economic growth that are likely with 2°C of warming.” [3]
• The Lancet Commission has said that climate change is the greatest public health threat of this century, but it is also the greatest public health opportunity of this century. [4,5]
• According to recent testimony to Congress, policies which reduce emissions sufficient for global temperature rise to stay less than 2℃ would prevent roughly 4.5 million premature deaths, about 3.5 million hospitalizations and emergency room visits, and approximately 300 million lost workdays in the US over the next 50 years. [6]
• The Lancet Commission has said that strong, sustained carbon pricing is “. . . the single most powerful instrument to inoculate human health against the risks of climate change.” [7]
• The American College of Physicians has stated that “We need to take action now to protect the health of our community’s most vulnerable members — including our children, our seniors, people with chronic illnesses, and the poor — because our climate is already changing and people are already being harmed.” [8]
• The American Medical Association, along with over 100 American health organizations, recommends that we “put a price on carbon that reflects its true social costs and phase out investments in and subsidies for fossil fuels for energy extraction and generation.” [9]
• According to the World Bank, a well-designed carbon pricing initiative is a powerful and flexible tool that can cut greenhouse gas emissions, and if adequately designed and implemented, can play a key role in enhancing innovation and smoothing the transition to a prosperous, low-carbon global economy. [10]
• A substantial carbon price will act as a catalyst to transition away from fossil fuels, and is considered our best chance to reach the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) goal of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. [11]
• A carbon fee designed to target IPCC goals of staying at or under 2℃ is projected to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36-38% by 2030, but also improve air quality by reducing sulfur dioxide (SO2) and mercury emissions from the power sector by more than 95 percent and emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by about 75 percent by 2030. [12]
• A bipartisan group of 3,500 luminary economists (including all living former Federal Reserve chairs) endorses a carbon tax as the most effective method to “reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed necessary.” In addition, they state that in order to “maximize fairness all revenue should be returned directly to U.S. citizens” because “the majority of American families, including the most vulnerable, will benefit financially by receiving more in ‘carbon dividends’ than they pay in increased energy prices.”  [13]

1. The Climate Crisis — Health and Care Delivery, NEJM August 22, 2019
2. Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States, 2019
3. Limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2.0°C—A unique and necessary role for health professionals, PLOS, May 14, 2019
4. Tackling climate change: the greatest opportunity for global health, The Lancet,
November 07, 2015
5. Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health, The Lancet, November 07, 2015
6. Health and Economic Benefits ofa 2℃ Climate policy: Dr. Drew Shindell testimony to House Committee on Oversight and Reform; August 2020
7. Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health, The Lancet, November 07, 2015
8. American College of Physicians issues urgent call to action on climate change to avert major threat to public health, April 19, 2016
9. U.S. Call to Action on Climate, Health, Equity: A Policy Action Agenda, Climate Health Action, 2019
10. Carbon Pricing Dashboard, The World Bank, 2019
11. Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 degree C, IPCC, 2019
12. An Assessment of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University, November 6, 2019
13. Economists’ Statement on Carbon Dividends: Organized by the Climate Leadership Council, 2019