Climate Health Now's March 2023 Newsletter

Hello Climate Health Now Community,

We hope you are all doing well, staying healthy (and dry!) as California faces yet another atmospheric river.

There is a lot going on at Climate Health Now, and we are excited to share this jam-packed newsletter! A few quick opportunities we want to specifically highlight:

  • We are asking everyone to take a minute to update their membership profile. If you haven't already done so, please click here! 
  • We are starting to work toward launching our second Resource Team - CHN Speaks. To start, we're asking you all if you have slides from presentations you've given on climate and health. Please see below for a more complete description and take a few minutes to fill out this form if you are up for helping us build our slide database! 
  • Thanks to advocacy from lots of individuals and groups, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just announced that the Health Sector Climate Pledge is re-opened! You can check it out here. And in case it's helpful, here is a template letter you can use to ask your workplace to sign! 

In the next few weeks we'll be finishing up onboarding our new team leaders (you can read about some of them below), meeting with our Advocacy Advisory Team, and planning out the legislative and regulatory campaigns in which we'll engage for 2023. We'll also be getting our Healthcare Sustainability Resource Team launched.  

We are all excited for what's to come -- 2023 is shaping up to be a big one for Climate Health Now and we can't wait to get going.

In solidarity,

Shuinn Chang, Margie Chen, Ashley McClure, Amanda Millstein, Brenda Nuyen and Nneoma Ojiaku - the Climate Health Now Transitional Leadership Team
 
Learning about the California Legislative Cycle

We had a great  March Monthly Meeting and were honored to host Kathy Dervin to learn about the California legislative cycle. Kathy took a complicated topic and pared it down -- if you missed it or want to take another look, please check out the link below! And if you'd like to view Kathy's slides, you may do so here. 
MISSED THE MEETING OR JUST WANT TO REWATCH IT?
CHECK OUT THE RECORDING HERE!
 
Meet our New Leaders!

This month we are launching three new teams: our NorCal and Central Valley Local Hub Teams and our Healthcare Sustainability Resource Team.

Stay tuned next month to meet our Central Valley and Advocacy Advisory Team leaders.
Healthcare Sustainability
Resource Team Leaders
Pam Lee

Pam is a faculty member in Harbor-UCLA's Division of Infectious Diseases, where her interests include evaluating infection prevention and control practices along environmental dimensions, medical education, and care of vulnerable populations. She is passionate about empowering all types of healthcare workers to seek creative, collaborative, and evidence-based approaches to advancing sustainability in their workplaces. Her recent achievements include completing the 2022 Southern California 6 Pack of Peaks hiking challenge and teaching her 2 year old niece to do a forward roll (with a lot of spotting).
Bill Pevec

Bill is Professor Emeritus of Vascular Surgery at the University of California, Davis, School of
Medicine. Currently, Bill is the Volunteer and Docent Coordinator for Stebbins-Cold Canyon Natural Reserve and a member of the Steering Committee of the UC Davis Polar Forum. He started and is leading the UC Davis Health Sustainability Advocates at the UC Davis Medical Center, and he is the faculty mentor for the Sustainability Through Environmentally Thoughtful Healthcare student organization. 
Nor Cal Local Hub Team Leaders
Karen Duderstadt

Karen is a Clinical Professor Emerita at the University of
California San Francisco School of Nursing. Karen is a founding member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
(ANHE) and is currently on the Leadership Team of the California Nurses for Environmental Health and Justice
(CNEHJ). 
Anita Gaind

Anita is an Internal Medicine physician who has been practicing for over 17 years. She has developed areas of focus in Geriatrics and Primary Care Psychiatry as well as her dedication to working with under resourced communities. Anita enjoys time with her son, Orion, who is passionate about basketball and starts high school in the fall 2023!
Cindy Haag

Cindy is a midwife and the co-founder and director of Pacifica Family Maternity Center. She is inspired to do this work by her daughter Ella as well as the 1500 babies she has helped bring into the world! Cindy is originally from the East Coast and now lives in Berkeley, where she's lucky enough to be able to walk to work. 
Jess de Jarnette

Jessica is a Family Medicine trained physician working in public health and urgent care. Social determinants of health, particularly environmental justice, is her favorite topic as she is passionate about saving this beautiful planet of ours and loves gathering the healthcare voice to work together in advocacy for policies that help create a healthier, more sustainable world.
Knox Kelly

Knox is originally from Louisiana, and became involved in environmentalism and global heath after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In medical school he helped found the New Orleans chapter of Citizen’s Climate Lobby. Knox moved to San Francisco for residency and now works as a hospitalist. 
Teresa Munoz

Teresa is a First Generation immigrant from Mexico working in Richmond as a gynecologist. She is the mother of two lovely humans and two beautiful huskies! 
 
CHN is fundraising! Can you help?

Thank you to everyone who has generously donated -- we are getting on our way to being able to hire part-time staff members! If you are able, please consider donating -- monthly donations are especially helpful and no amount is too small!

Would you be interested in hosting a small fundraiser for Climate Health Now in-person? This is an opportunity both to gather people together to talk about climate change, health, and equity and for people to learn how to support our work. Please reach out to Amanda Millstein (amanda.millstein@gmail.com) if you're interested! 
 
CHN Speaks: We Want YOUR Help!

Have you given a talk on climate and health -- to your colleagues, faith group, community, school, or somewhere else? If so, want want your help!

The next Resource Team we will launch is called CHN Speaks -- its focus will be on equipping our members to speak about climate, health, and equity in California -- to other members of the health community, policy makers, and the public.

To start, we are asking: do you have slides that you'd be willing to share with us to go toward building a base slide collection? 

If so, please take a minute to fill out this quick questionnaire, and send your slides to caclimatehealthnow@gmail.com. And if you would rather not have us use any of your slides in our library, but you still would like to share your presentation in view-only mode to help us create a general presentation template, please let us know in the questionnaire below as well.
 
Climate Health Now Members in Action!

Some exciting climate health activities took place across California the last few weeks featuring CHN members in action!

Brenda Nuyen and Shuinn Chang (pictured above!) spoke at the USC Women's Conference about climate change and health -- the conference was sold out! 

Pam Lee was awarded a grant from the Infectious Diseases Society of America to study the environmental impact of contact precautions for MRSA in Los Angeles!  

Laurie Lalakea gave a presentation to the Stanford Ear, Nose and Throat Department on climate change and health and the role of otolaryngologists! 
 
SF-Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility asks Bay Area health professionals: Join together in support of zero-emission appliance standards!

On Wednesday, March 15 at 8:30 AM, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) will be voting on the nation’s first zero-emission appliance standards! The policy will phase out the sale of polluting gas furnaces and water heaters starting in 2027 and enable widespread electric heat pump adoption in the Bay Area. It will also set an example for the California Air Resources Board and other states to reduce appliance pollution. Opponents from the fossil fuel industry have been hard at work spreading fear and misinformation, but together, we can show Air District board members that we support the policy and want clean air!

San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility is one of the groups leading this effort, and they are inviting health professionals to attend a rally in front of BAAQMD headquarters on 3/15 at 8:30am and take the following actions: 

1. SIGN the petition here, scroll down

2. CALL or submit WRITTEN COMMENTS by March 14, 5pm: here is an easy guide.

3. ATTEND the hearing and/or deliver public comments: March 15 at 8:30 AM at BAAQMD headquarters at 375 Beale Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Per SF Bay PSR: Public comments will probably start at 10-10:30am. We really need supporters to fill the room in the morning.We are asking people to stay as long as they can, but it is perfectly fine to leave whenever you need to! And please wear something to symbolize your health work! We will be providing signs that say "Vote YES for Clean Air" and have the coalition logo.

SF Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility is leading much of the effort, and they are organizing a group of health professionals. To join please RSVP here! Questions? Please reach out to Julie Lindow, Director of Communications and Health Professional Engagement at SF Bay PSR (jujulindow@yahoo.com)! 
 
"To Protect our Health, Tell the Truth about the Fossil Fuel Industry"

In case you missed it, Linda Rudolph's op-ed on the health impacts of fossil fuels and the efforts the fossil fuel industry is taking to hide those effects is a must-read. You can check it out here -- and congratulations to Linda on this publication! 
 
 ACTION ALERT:
Join the 3.21.23 Day of Action with THIRD ACT!

Third Act, founded by Bill McKibben, is leading a major national effort aimed at getting banks to stop funding fossil fuels - by threatening to move our money. Wells Fargo Corporate Headquarters in SF is a priority target. 

Several health folks are planning to attend the event in SF! You can Text Cynthia Mahoney 510-566-6199 for questions and to meet up if you're planning to go! 

Outside of SF? Similar events are happening all over the country - you can check out more information here!
 
Media Training Opportunity for Health Folks offered by the American Lung Association! 

  • The American Lung Association will be holding a free, professional media training session for California medical and health professionals related to air quality and climate advocacy on March 16th from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. If interested, please email Will.Barrett@Lung.org for more information or to secure a spot.

 
Climate Activism and Community Organizing

Our leadership team is lucky to count Kelsey Wirth, the founder of Mothers Out Front, as one of our mentors. Mothers Out Front is built around community organizing. Check out Kelsey's inspiring Ted Talk here! 
 
More Opportunities to Learn and Engage

The Climate Center is hosting its California Climate Policy Summit on April 11 in Sacramento - check it out and register here 
 
Climate Health Now Shout Outs and Thank Yous!

  • To our new Local Hub Team and Healthcare Sustainability Team leaders for showing up with excitement and readiness to dive in! 
  • To Kathy Dervin for speaking at our March Monthly Meeting and educating us on the California legislative cycle! 
  • To everyone who has taken a minute to update their membership profile! 
  • To Chelsea Young for continuing to help us spotlight members in our newsletter!
 

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