January 2, 2020 – Today, hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses and other health professionals are urging President Trump to reverse his withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. In a letter, the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, comprised of medical societies representing more than 600,000 of the nation’s doctors, called on the President to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement because it will help prevent the many serious health harms that climate change will bring. The American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the National Medical Association, the American Association for Community Psychiatry, the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, and the National Association of Social Workers, among many others co-signed the letter.

“Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will have serious health consequences,” said Dr. Mona Sarfaty, Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. “That is why stopping America’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement is the top priority of the Policy Action Agenda on Climate, Health and Equity which declares climate change to be a health emergency. As we enter the new year, there is no single step that will do more for the health of all Americans than remaining in and meeting our obligations to the Paris Climate Agreement.”

The Trump administration announced their intention to withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017 and formally initiated the one-year withdrawal process in November of 2019. The Paris Agreement is science-based and emphasizes clean energy and pollution reduction, which will improve health immediately and is a crucial tool with the potential to reduce the odds of more dramatic harms to health down the road.

“President Trump’s duty is to make the best decisions to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and our future,” said Dr. Sarfaty. “Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement falls far short of that.”

More information on the Policy Action Agenda can be found here: http://climatehealthaction.org/

Read the full letter below.
An Open Letter to President Donald J. Trump

January 2, 2020

Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Trump,

Americans often welcome in the New Year by making resolutions. In that spirit, many of us are committing to taking steps to improve our health. We’re resolving to move more, eat better and get more fresh air. We’re trying to improve our financial health as well, by spending more wisely. Mr. President, with one action, you could help us achieve all of these things:

Stop our withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

Our organizations represent hundreds of thousands of our country’s doctors, nurses and other health care providers. We are seeing, right now, the harms to our health that global warming is creating. We foresee much greater health harms to all Americans, especially our children and grandchildren, if we do not join with the rest of the world to respond to the climate crisis—because climate change is a public health emergency.

Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement is not just about preventing the worst of the devastating health harms climate change will bring. It’s also about seizing this public health crisis and turning it into a major public health opportunity. Climate solutions are health solutions.

Accelerating the inevitable progress toward renewable energy and energy efficiency will allow us all to breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water. Building our communities and transportation systems to be biking- and walking-friendly, and building more affordable mass transit will help people live more active, healthier lifestyles. Climate-friendly approaches to agriculture, soil management and forests will improve the quality of our food, water and air.

Every one of these steps will save lives, increase productivity and reduce health costs.

America can do this. And the world needs America’s leadership.

President Trump, we ask you to make a New Year’s resolution that will protect and improve the health of every American next year and every year to come.

Stop the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Signed,
Mona Sarfaty, MD
Executive Director
Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health

We join with the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, to ask President Donald J. Trump to make a New Year’s Resolution to protect Americans’ health, safety and wellbeing by stopping the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
American Association for Community Psychiatry
American College of Physicians
American Medical Association
American Medical Women’s Association
Climate Psychiatry Alliance
Endocrine Society
Florida Clinicians for Climate Action
Islamic Medical Association of North America
Massachusetts Medical Society
Medical Advocates for Healthy Air North Carolina
Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
National Medical Association
National Association of Social Workers
Ohio Clinicians for Climate Action
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment
Vermont Climate and Health Alliance
Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action