It’s by no means new news that there are myriad ways that extracting and burning fossil fuels — or making them into other products, like plastics — is bad for public health, and particularly so for Black and Brown Americans. But we still continue to burn methane, gasoline, and even coal, so the point bears being made again (and again).
The latest to do so is a broad coalition of medical and health organizations that released a new report last week titled “Fueling Sickness: The Hidden Health Costs of Fossil Fuel Pollution.” It makes the case that society’s ongoing reliance on fossil fuels is severely damaging public health already — particularly demographics overburdened by such pollutions, including Black and Brown Americans —and it will only get worse as the effects of climate change get worse.
“Fossil fuels harm our health in more ways than most people realize,” said Dr. Mark Vossler, board president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, one of the organizations that put out the report, in a statement. “This report makes it clear that every stage of the fossil fuel process, from extraction, to transportation, to burning for energy causes widespread damage to the heart, lungs, brain, and other organs … Rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels is not just an environmental necessity; it’s a public health imperative.”
“Fueling Sickness” shows that fossil fuel pollution is everyone’s problem, while also making it clear that it is even more of a problem for some groups, including Black Americans.
“A complex array of interconnected factors (including but not limited to historical redlining, lending discrimination, exclusionary land use policies, disinvestment, and urban renewal projects) have resulted in low-income [communities] and communities of color disproportionally living in areas with a greater concentration of polluting sources, like highways and factories, and thus have greater exposure to multiple pollutants from multiple sources,” the report reads. “As a result, a higher percentage of racial minorities are exposed to particulate matter and ozone, contributing to a greater incidence of childhood asthma and other respiratory conditions.”
As the report notes, fossil fuels harm public health at every point of their production and use cycle, from extraction to refining to transportation to combustion — and the waste products made along the way, like coal ash, can also make people sick.
The effects of breathing polluted air
Respiratory diseases like asthma are some of the most obvious effects of breathing polluted air. Fine particulate matter and other emissions generated by extracting and burning fossil fuels can damage other parts of the body, too, including the cardiovascular system and the brain, increasing the risk of neurological diseases.
Like so many of the negative consequences of fossil fuel pollution, the neurodegenerative effects are not evenly felt. “The neurocognitive harms of fossil fuel pollution disproportionately impact children, older adults, and communities already facing environmental and health inequities,” according to the report. “People living near busy roadways, diesel truck routes, or polluting industries are exposed to higher levels of PM2.5 and other air pollutants. These communities are more likely to be low-income or communities of color, compounding the risks.”
Air pollution and birth outcomes
Similarly, mental health, kidney health, hormonal health, and reproductive health are all also negatively affected by fossil fuel pollution. According to the report, “one of the strongest associations between air pollution and negative birth outcomes like low birth weight and preterm birth are with power plants and petrochemical industries” — facilities that Black Americans are much more likely to live alongside than other people are.
Physicians for Social Responsibility collaborated with a number of organizations on the report: the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Children’s Environmental Health Network, Climate Psychiatry Alliance, Climate Psychology Alliance North America, International Society for Environmental Epidemiology North America Chapter, Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health, Medical Student for a Sustainable Future, National Medical Association, Oncology Advocates United for Climate and Health, and Public Health Institute.
There is at least some good news about the damage to public health caused by fossil fuel pollution, including in Black and Brown communities: We know how to stop it. As the report puts it, “the most powerful health protection strategy is to reduce climate pollution by transitioning away from fossil fuels.”
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