- U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the Clean Power Plan.
- This decision has limited the ability of the EPA to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.
- Emissions could impact health directly as well as indirectly by worsening climate change.
- 贫困和边缘化的人口最大。
- 专家说，对于公民来说，游说采取积极的措施来打击气候变化很重要。
On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision concerningWest Virginia诉EPA。The nation’s highest judicial body struck down the Clean Power Plan (CPP), curtailing the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgatecap-and-trade programsunder the Clean Air Act (CAA).
These programs are aimed at reducing air pollution by placing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and creating a market for companies to buy and sell allowances for a particular amount of emissions. This gives companies a financial incentive to reduce how much pollution they are generating.
美国卫生和人类服务部SecretaryXavier Becerradescribed the move as one that “takes us backwards in time when we badly need to be making progress,” noting that the most vulnerable populations tend to be impacted the worst.
Becerra further cited the benefits of reducing air pollution, such as improving air quality, preventing premature deaths, helping people with asthma, and reducing lost school and workdays due to illness.
He concluded his statement by vowing that the Biden-Harris administration would do everything it could to protect public health and fight climate change.
凯利·埃斯克（Kelly Eskew）, clinical professor of business law and ethics at Indiana University, said she sees two major ways limiting the power of the EPA to regulate emissions from power plants could impact health.
首先是排放可以直接对健康产生的影响。
她解释说，二氧化硫，氮氧化物和颗粒物等化学物质是呼吸刺激性的，可使哮喘和其他肺部疾病恶化。
Additionally, smaller particulate matter can lead to higher levels of heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, blood clots, lung cancer, and Parkinson’s disease.
Eskew further cites a
Finally, mercury can damage the lungs, cause neurological and behavioral disorders, and harm the thyroid and kidneys.
The second way emissions can affect health is through their impact on climate.
People in urban areas where there are fewer green spaces are more likely to see temperature rises due to the heat island effect, said Eskew. This effect is created by the pavement, buildings, and other infrastructure absorbing and re-emitting heat, according to theEPA。它可能导致温度升高多达7°F.
In rural areas, extreme weather events like droughts, storms, and flooding can have devastating impacts on infrastructure as well as the economy, she said.
In addition, when agriculture is affected, it can lead to food insecurity, both because there is less food available and because prices will rise.
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The poorest, most marginalized people are among the populations who would be affected the most, according toCatherine Kling,PhD, an environmental economist and an expert in water quality modeling who served for 10 years on the EPA’s Science Advisory Board.
“Low-income and disadvantaged people are less able to protect themselves from floods, excessive heat, and the many health consequences of disasters and increasing temperatures (including heat exhaustion, mental health problems, increased crime and violence, homelessness, and unsanitary living conditions),” said Kling.
Jeff Freedman, PhD, a research associate at the University at Albany’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, agrees, explaining that these groups do not have the resources needed to cope with rapid change. Nor are governments always able or willing to help.
“In the U.S., a large percentage of people of color and other marginalized groups tend to live in poorer urban areas with limited access to air conditioning or clean air,” said Freedman. “Climate change is making these problems worse.”
Freedman further pointed to poor communities in rural regions that are also susceptible to other climate change-related issues like long-term drought, lack of clean water supplies, coastal flooding, and extreme weather events like hurricanes and wildfires.
Shahir Masri, ScD, an assistant specialist in air pollution exposure assessment and epidemiology at the University of California, Irvine, said that, while the decision feels like a huge blow, it may not have any immediate impact on health.
马斯里说：“那是因为美国对气候变化的行动已经陷入僵局了几十年，而西弗吉尼亚州诉EPA诉EPA的决定实质上仅适用于EPA目前甚至没有行使的权力。”
“It does, of course, hand-tie the EPA in the future,” he added. “But it’s unclear if EPA’s hands would have ever been put to work, at least within the timeframe that is needed to address the climate crisis.”
Masri noted that the current decision represents an “ongoing stalemate” with the decision now being passed back to Congress to provide explicit regulation of carbon dioxide in the manner proposed by the EPA.
马斯里补充说：“如果最高法院的裁决有任何积极的判决，那就是法院确认温室的排放是对公众的威胁。”
He said it’s now up to the public to pay attention and make climate change an issue in the upcoming midterm elections.
弗里德曼说，作为一个国家，重要的是要积极面对气候变化。
This can be done by transitioning to a new energy economy, powered by renewable energy, he explained.
It’s also vital to enact mitigation measures like more green space, hardening of infrastructure against flooding, and more adaptable agricultural practices like less water-intensive crops and livestock.
他解释说：“一切都与秤有关。”“大规模变更需要国家（联邦）政府的支持。当地变革是人们投资社区的产物。”
Kling added, “The most important thing people can do to protect themselves and their families is to advocate for policy change and vote for policymakers who understand the severity of the problem and are willing to pass legislation to address the problem.”