This is a public comment that Mothers & Others For Clean Air submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the proposal to repeal greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for power plants (EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0124). The American Medical Association and numerous other medical professional societies all have policy statements about how climate change is impacting human health now, and this proposal is directly opposite what medical professionals recommend to protect health.
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“This proposal will hurt people’s health now and in the future. This proposal does not consider the numerous scientific studies demonstrating that climate change is already hurting people’s health now, and it will continue to get worse if we burn more fossil and other combustion fuels. EPA’s mission it to set standards that protect human health, and this proposal will hurt human health. Therefore we oppose this proposal and urge Administrator Zeldin to reject this proposal. This proposal is bad for health, bad for the economy, and it is bad policy.
The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American Psychiatric Association, and other medical professional associations all have statements that say the climate change is caused by humans, and that it is harming health now.
The AMA statement includes these statements, which note that climate change has already adversely affected the physical and mental health of people:
“Our American Medical Association supports scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant. These climate changes have adversely affected the physical and mental health of people. We recognize that minoritized and marginalized populations, children, pregnant people, the elderly, rural communities, and those who are economically disadvantaged will suffer disproportionate harm from climate change.”
The AMA also states that “… policymakers should work to reduce human contributions to such changes.” https://policysearch.ama-assn.org/policyfinder/detail/climate%20change?uri=%2FAMADoc%2FHOD.xml-0-309.xml
EPA’s proposal to repeal greenhouse gas standards for power plants is the opposite of what the American Medical Association recommends for protecting health, which means that this proposal will hurt people in the U.S.
The ACP statement on climate change says that “Human health is already being affected by climate change and its impact is expected to worsen.” It also urges policymakers to “Dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, vehicles, industry, and appliances in buildings.”
EPA’s proposal to repeal greenhouse gas standards from power plants is the opposite of what the American College of Physicians recommends to protect health.
The AAFP statement on climate change says that “Anthropogenic climate change — the accelerated warming of the planet driven by human activities that include burning of fossil fuels and deforestation — is harming human health.” … “The AAFP opposes any actions by local, state or national governments that weaken existing stream and air protections.” https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/climate-change-environmental-health.html
EPA’s proposal to repeal greenhouse gas is the opposite of what the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends to protect health.
Both ACOG and the AAP have statements on climate change. These two groups represent physicians who care for some of the most vulnerable in our society: children and pregnant women.
“The warming of our planet matters to the health, well-being, and future of every child.”
“Climate change poses threats to human health, safety, and security, and children are uniquely vulnerable to these threats. Given this knowledge, failure to take prompt, substantive action would be an act of injustice to all children.” https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/climate-change/global-climate-change-and-childrens-health-aap-recommendations/
“Environmental exposures, including those related to climate change, have a disproportionate effect on women’s health and further exacerbate health inequities. The effects of climate change include food and water insecurity, civil conflicts, extreme weather events, and spread of disease—all of which put women at elevated risk of disease, malnutrition, sexual violence, poor mental health, lack of reproductive control, negative obstetric outcomes, and death. These factors also harm the health of communities and future generations, such as the erosion of the health care infrastructure needed to support healthy women and healthy families and studies suggesting an association between extreme temperatures and preterm birth and low weight.” https://www.acog.org/clinical-information/policy-and-position-statements/position-statements/2021/addressing-climate-change
EPA’s proposal to repeal the greenhouse gas standards for power plants is the opposite of what the two professional societies, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, recommend to protect health. These two professional societies represent physicians who provide health care to two of the most vulnerable groups in the U.S.: children and pregnant women.
As you can see from our review of medical professionals’ (the AMA, ACP, AAFP, AAP, and ACOG) policy statements on climate change and health, this proposal from EPA is the opposite of what ALL of them recommend to protect health. EPA’s mission it to protect health, and this proposal is the opposite of health. Therefore Mothers and Others For Clean Air strongly opposes this proposal.”
