Hello ,

We hope you all had a happy and healthy new year.

Our hearts and minds are with everyone navigating the wildfires in Los Angeles right now. Yesterday we shared a template for a letter to the editor highlighting the connection between the wildfires in LA, our health, climate change, and fossil fuels -- and calling on California's political leaders to support the forthcoming legislation that is expected to be introduced soon to require fossil fuel companies to pay for the damages they've caused in California (It's expected to be similar to the Climate Superfund bill that NY just passed). If you haven't already, please use our toolkit to create and submit your own LTE -- our health voices matter, now more than ever. 

Amidst the sadness and tragedy, we want to highlight the positive work we've done together in 2024 and how much Climate Health Now has grown -- please find our Annual Report here. 

We know this year will bring many challenges and many opportunities. We are eager to dig in and get going and honored to be working with you all. If you have colleagues or friends who are members of the health community in California please send them our way -- by linking arms and rising up together to demand action to protect health, we can continue to create change.  

Sincerely,

Shuinn Chang, Margie Chen, Ashley McClure, Amanda Millstein, Brenda Nuyen- the Climate Health Now Statewide Leadership Team

WHAT'S UP NEXT WITH CLIMATE HEALTH NOW - JANUARY

• Saturday, January 18, 9a-2p - Sustainability Summit

CHN's first ever Healthcare Sustainability Summit is coming up this Saturday - in person at UC Davis and virtually. The Summit will feature project presentations by our 2024 Healthcare Sustainability Fellows and our incoming 2025 Fellows, as well as talks from healthcare leaders in a range of healthcare sustainability topics, including pharmacy, supply chain, infection prevention, and more.If you haven't yet registered and are interested in attending in-person, please email amanda@climatehealthnow.org asap! To register to attend virtually, click here. 

• Wednesday, January 22, 12-1p -- CHN Community Meeting

Please join our first Community Meeting of 2025. Our Community Meetings are a great way to find out what's going on at CHN, hear from team leaders and learn about upcoming opportunities, and more. We don't record them so if possible please attend -- even if you can only make part of the meeting. Click here to register. 

• Thursday, January 30, 12-1p - New Member Welcome Meeting

Whether you are new to CHN or have been around a while, everyone is welcome to join our next New Member Welcome Meeting! This meeting will be a great opportunity to learn more about CHN's work, share about your own interests and motivation for getting involved, and also meet other people interested in climate health advocacy. Please spread the word too -- any member of the California health community is welcome to join. Click here to register. 

Remember - you can always check our website climatehealthnow.org to see upcoming events and find the registration links as well!

APPLY NOW: BECOME A CHN ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN TEAM CO-LEAD FOR 2025!

Are you passionate about creating policy change at the intersection of climate, energy, and health equity?  Do you want to learn more about the California legislative cycle?  Are you looking for a meaningful way to engage in climate health advocacy in 2025? 

Apply to become a Climate Health Now Advocacy Campaigns Team (ACT) Co-Lead for 2025!

Climate Health Now is seeking motivated individuals to lead our state-level advocacy efforts and make a real difference in California. No experience or expertise necessary -- we will provide all training and resources. Please click here to find more information as well as a short application. 

Application Deadline: January 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM PT Questions? Curious? Reach out to connect@climatehealthnow.org

HAVE A MINUTE? CLIMATE HEALTH ACTION OPPORTUNITY 

Communities like Port Arthur, Texas, are already bearing the brunt of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development. In August, 30+ health professionals visited the area, witnessing firsthand the industry’s impact on health. By standing in solidarity with frontline communities, we can protect public health, prevent further harm, and drive the transition to clean energy for a healthier, more sustainable future. Submit your comment calling on the Biden Administration to reject the pending LNG permits by January 19th.

MSCCH Annual Meeting:

CHN is offering 3 stipends to our members to attend in person in Washington, DC - please apply by January 31!

Climate Health Now is proud to be the California state affiliate of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. This year, in partnership with American Lung Association, Kaiser Permanente, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the National Academy of Medicine and more, the Consortium will be hosting its Climate Action Convention -- in Washington, DC and virtually. From people just getting started in their climate health advocacy and looking to learn more to those who are already deeply involved, the Convention is a great place to learn, meet like-minded colleagues and deepen relationships.  It is an extremely well-designed event that is sure to help you better understand how you can help bring your health voice to advocacy to help make effective change. 

Climate Health Now is offering THREE travel stipends of $500 each for three of our members to attend the Annual Meeting in person. Decisions will be made by January 31st. Please contact us at connect@climatehealthnow.org if you are interested in a travel stipend - please share a paragraph about why you are interested in attending the Annual Meeting! If you are selected for a stipend we ask that you share photos and a reflection of your experience in a future newsletter or community meeting. 

WHAT'S CLIMATE CHANGE GOT TO DO WITH DENTISTRY? ACTUALLY, A WHOLE LOT! 

Over a year ago, CHN member and dentist Nancy Hu began the journey of researching and writing about the intersections between climate change and dentistry -- including why dentists should care about climate change and what they can do. In December, Nancy's awesome work was published in the Journal of the California Dental Association! You can find her research article here and her letter to the editor here -- please take a look and share.

SHOUT OUTS AND THANK YOUS

• To Bill Pevec, Pam Lee, Brenda Nuyen, and Amanda Millstein for their work, creativity, and coordination planning CHN's first-ever Healthcare Sustainability Summit, coming up January 18th
• To Andrew Hernandez, David Barnes, Michelle Campi, and Julia Munsch for their willingness to give us their time and share their expertise with us at our upcoming Healthcare Sustainability Summit and to Kristina Bair for going above and beyond to help us plan the Summit at UC Davis
• To Hina Fullar for creating the letter to the editor templates to highlight the connection between health, climate change, fossil fuels, and the fires in LA
• To Ashley McClure for her acceptance into the Leading Change Network's Training of Trainers program for public narrative -- we can't wait to learn from you
• To Nancy Hu for her awesome research article and LTE on dentistry and climate change 
• To all of our members, friends, and colleagues in and around Los Angeles -- we are holding you in our hearts