Welcome to Our Winter 2022 Newsletter!

Dear Climate Health Now Community,

Welcome to our winter 2022 newsletter. We know there are lots of infections affecting many of our families and our patients—a trying end to the year. We want to wish you happy healthy holidays and hope that the upcoming winter solstice gives you some time to rest and recharge with loved ones.

Our CHN community is going to have an exciting new year of advocacy campaigns for climate health and equity in California— so rest up and we’ll be in touch with ways to take action with us in the new year!

If you are looking for some hopeful and uplifting music, we wanted to share the playlist we've created on Spotify (with huge credit to Bev Harp from the Med Society Consortium, whose playlist heavily inspired this one!). 

In solidarity,

Amanda Millstein & Ashley McClure
 
Please Support CHN - An End of Year Request!

For the first-time ever, CHN is working toward fundraising and hiring staff - and we need your help! No gift is too small- if you can consider $20/month it would be a huge help! Click the button below to make a tax-deductible donation.
DONATE TO CHN!

And calling all Kaiser Permanente employees: if you give through the KP Gives platform CHN is listed as a 'project' (under our ‘fiscal sponsor’ the Oil and Gas Action Network/OGAN).

All donations that are received through this portal by 1/1/2023 (up to $200 per person) will be matched/doubled! Please consider pitching in to double your impact.
 
November Monthly Meeting:
Personal Narrative for Social Change

Our November monthly meeting focused on a huge element of our work -- creating, reflecting on, and sharing our personal narratives as a part of our climate health advocacy.

A huge thank you to Shuinn Chang and Cindy Haag for sharing their own personal narratives and what brings them to climate health advocacy. We're excited to continue to learn about and practice our personal narratives in 2023, especially as we build our CHN Speaks team! 

A shout out too to C Freeman and Jessie Liu, who are both going to participate in the Center for Story-Based Strategy's Intro to Story-Based Strategy training coming up in January!
 
December Monthly Meeting:
A Post-Mortem on Proposition 30

In December, we were joined by 3 integral members of the Yes on 30 Coalition - Deborah Camiel (50+1 Strategy), Kevin Hamilton (Central California Asthma Collaborative), and Bill Magavern (Coalition for Clean Air) to talk about Proposition 30. Prop 30 - aka the "Clean Cars, Clean Air Ballot Measure," was the only climate-related proposition on the ballot this fall and ultimately failed to pass by a wide margin, despite initially strong polling and wide-spread support.

If you missed the meeting, you can watch the recording here! A huge thank you to our panelists for sharing their insights and lessons learned and everyone who participated for asking such thoughtful questions. 
 
Speaking of Prop 30:
CHN Members in Action!

CHN is proud to have been one of many organizations who joined the Yes on 30 coalition. Several CHN members wrote and spoke about why Proposition 30 matters for climate, health, and equity!

Vanessa Forsythe had this op-ed published in the Times of San Diego. Ashley McClure, Nightingale Wakigera, and Naomi Bardach each spoke at press conferences throughout California on Prop 30 and why it mattered for climate, health, and equity. Check them out in action below.
 
Big Oil is Working to Overturn SB1137 

SB 1137, legislation was signed into law earlier in 2022, mandates a minimum buffer of 3,200 feet between oil and gas drilling and what the state calls "sensitive receptors." This victory is the culmination of decades of organizing my California environmental justice and community organizations. Unsurprisingly, Big Oil is fighting back -- and also unsurprisingly, they are lying about what they are doing.

Read on for more information directly from VISION (Voices in Solidarity against Oil in Neighborhoods)-- including how you can help:

Right now, the oil industry is spending millions to try to crush SB1137, a law that protects Californians from oil drilling pollution by preventing new drilling in neighborhoods. They’re paying for an army of petitioners to sit outside gas stations and grocery stores across the state, gathering signatures for a referendum to overturn SB1137 and the vital protections it provides. 

Petitioners are armed with a slew of oil industry misinformation to trick voters into signing. 

They claim that SB1137 will drive up gas prices and lead to a complete energy shut down so they can intimidate hard working Californians struggling to pay at the pump. They have even been caught saying that the petition is to END neighborhood drilling–an outright lie to steal signatures from Californians who believe in common sense public health policy. 

While their lies are fake, the damage from building more oil wells near our communities is very real. Industrial oil operations take place just feet from homes, schools and hospitals, increasing community risks of asthma, birth defects and cancer. More than 2 million people live within 3,200 feet of an operational oil well and California is one of the last oil producing states in the nation to allow drilling in neighborhoods. 

STOP THE SCAM!

1. Do Not Sign the Petition! 
Lying to voters is the only way oil companies can secure the signatures they need before the deadline on December 15, 2022. Their petition will NOT lower gas prices or end neighborhood drilling.

2. Catch Them Lying & Report It
Misrepresenting the truth to collect signatures is a criminal violation. CA’s Secretary of State is already investigating Big Oil’s sneaky tactics and is following up on all credible reports.

3. Take a video of a petitioner lying and/or photo of any signage and petitions onsite. (There’s no need to get confrontational with petitioners as we are trying to expose industry’s widespread fraud and not go after individuals.)

4. Submit your complaint online or by mail. 
An official from the Secretary of State’s Office will contact you to learn more about your experience. 

5. Remove Your Name
If you did sign, there is still time to withdraw your signature by sending your local elections official a letter containing the following:

Petition title 
Date 
Name 
Address
Signature 
A sentence saying you want to be removed 

6. Share Your Story
If you’ve been lied to by petitioners, media outlets want to hear your story. Email letters@latimes.com with the most outrageous story you’ve heard from someone gathering signatures. Write an op-ed in your local paper and use our toolkit as a guide. Email Kobi at kobi@vision-ca.org if you’re interested in being interviewed by reporters.
 
Climate Health Now Member Spotlight:
Brenda Nuyen, MD

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I am from Orange County, CA, and I currently live in Los Angeles. Outside of vacations, I have spent my whole life including my schooling and training in Southern California!

What type of healthcare are you involved with?

I am a comprehensive ophthalmologist at a private practice.

Was there a specific event or experience that caused you to become concerned about climate change?

As a child of frugal immigrants, I grew up in a largely zero waste household given our limited resources. Our family vacations were affordable road trips to local state and national parks, so we spent our leisure time in California's beautiful natural spaces. Fast forward to the height of the COVID pandemic: trying to figure out what to do with my homebound energy during this anxiety-filled time, I found a book in my husband's library about Al Gore's organization Climate Reality Project. Shortly thereafter I participated in their virtual Leadership Corps training, and this opened my eyes to what driven and passionate individuals are doing about the greatest challenge of our time - the climate crisis. I realized that the COVID pandemic is truly a consequence of climate change, as are most issues plaguing our humanity today, and getting involved in this space would be my way of making a difference.

When and how did you become involved in climate advocacy?

After getting involved with Climate Reality Project, I sought a way to bridge my professional skills with my burgeoning passion in climate work - I was searching for a good fit for me to bridge climate and health. It took the better part of a year, and trying on different organizations and projects, for me to find how I wanted to best use my time and energy in this work. The climate crisis is quite overwhelming, but I think each and every one of us can find how we can best use our skills, time, and interests to make the difference we want to make. In my search to find my "climate home," I found Climate Health Now!

Who inspires you to do this type of work?

Honestly everyone around me - my toddler daughter whose health and life I'm trying to protect by doing this work, my husband who supports my passions and has become devoted to reading and talking about climate with me, my patients who tell me every day that they are concerned about changes to their health that have been impacted by forces beyond their individual control. I'm not exaggerating when I say every time I talk to a fellow CHN member or participate in a meeting, I feel admiration, inspiration, and a sense of belonging: there are many of us out there who feel the way I do and want to do the work I want to do! 

Are you working on any environmental justice projects currently?

I am currently the Resource Team Chair of the Transitional Leadership Team of CHN. I also am a part of EyeSustain, a global initiative of ophthalmologists and eye societies collaborating to promote sustainability within ophthalmology - I serve on the Industry Advisory Board Subcommittee to serve as liaisons to the major ophthalmology industry partners and advance their sustainability efforts.


What do you do to recharge?

I recently got into pottery; I love chasing the "flow state" mindset and being on the wheel with my complete focus on the clay fosters that. I'm quite the novice but I love it! A good TV show will also recharge me. I'm currently watching Better Call Saul and this show's storytelling is so great!


What are two books that left an impact on you?

I read Animal Farm in middle school and it was the first book that showed me the power of symbolism and satire. Every few years I read Jhumpa Lahiri's short story collection The Interpreter of Maladies; I love revisiting the vividness of the writing and the themes of immigrant family and belonging, and the short story format is great for reading in between patients at work!
 
Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty 

Fossil fuel phase-out was a major focus of the conversation around COP27. Sadly, the final agreement did not include a strong commitment to the necessary phase-out. A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is needed now more than ever. 

If you haven't already signed, please sign and share the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Over 20,000 health professionals across the world have already signed - you can read the treaty and add your name here. The letter is coordinated, on behalf of the health community, by the World Health Organization, the Global Climate and Health Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Healthcare Without Harm, with input from members of the WHO-Civil Society Working Group on Climate and Health.
 
Resource Alert:
Americares' Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Project

The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) and Americares have collaborated to help protect people on the frontlines of the climate crisis with the Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics project. Based on surveys of over 450 staff from 47 U.S. states and territories, the Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit provides useful resources for health care providers, patients and administrators at free clinics and community health centers to meet the challenges for health care from climate change. You can read more about the project and check out the toolkit here.
 
Save the Dates and Opportunities!
 
Climate Health Now Co-Sponsored California Medical Association's
First-Ever Climate Health Event!

We are thrilled to have been a co-sponsor of California Medical Association's first-ever climate-health related event, held live in Los Angeles in October. The event was a big success and included thoughtful discussion from many different people working at the intersection of climate, health and equity in California. If you missed it, you can watch the recording here! 
 
A Round Up of Healthcare Decarbonization and Sustainability Resources

  • My Green Doctor: My Green Doctor is a free money-saving & climate-saving membership benefit from CHN.  Members use My Green Doctor’s “Meeting-by-Meeting Guide” to learn how to adopt environmental sustainability, save resources, and help create healthier communities.  The program adds just five minutes to each regular office staff meeting or weekly office “huddle”, making small changes at each meeting that over time really add up. Everyone in your practice can register as Partner Society members at www.MyGreenDoctor.org or at www.MyGreenDoctor.es.  Use the discount code MGDCHN to save $60 instantly and give full access to My Green Doctor for free.  Ask your practice manager to register today and to put My Green Doctor on your next agenda.  You can do this!

  • What is the carbon footprint of primary care practices? One question that's come up a lot in our conversations around decarbonization and healthcare sustainability is: what's the deal with primary care practices -- what are the sources of their emissions? This paper attempts to answer just that! You can check it out here. 
  • CleanMed 2023! Registration just opened for CleanMed 2023, taking place in Pittsburgh, PA May 23-25. You can read more about it and register here!
 
Shout Outs and Thank Yous!

  • To Chelsea Young for leading our member spotlight and Brenda Nuyen for being spotlighted
  • To Deborah Camiel, Kevin Hamilton, and Bill Magavern for sharing your thoughts and insights on Prop 30 with us
  • To Shuinn Chang and Cindy Haag for sharing your personal narratives with us so honestly for our November monthly meeting 
  • To Vanessa Forsythe, Nightingale Wakigera, and Naomi Bardach for stepping up and speaking and writing about Prop 30 and why it was important for climate, health, and equity 
  • To Jeff Mann and Lilly Chen (and their families) for joining Amanda at our first-ever CHN fundraising event in Napa -- thank you for making the trip on a rainy weekend afternoon! And to Amanda's parents for graciously hosting us in their home and enabling a great conversation about climate change and health!
  • To Lilly Chen for generously offering a matching donation to KP employees who donate to CHN!
Thank you for financially supporting CHN!
Please chip in HERE if you can.

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