Coalition Of Medical Groups Cite Climate Change As Greatest Threat To Public Health

According to a coalition of medical groups, climate change, not cancer or heart disease, poses the greatest threat to public health today.

“The health, safety and well-being of millions of people in the U.S. have already been harmed by human-caused climate change, and health risks in the future are dire without urgent action to fight climate change,” say 74 medical groups that include prominent organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Heart Medical Association in a letter.

The coalition describes climate change as the “greatest public health challenge of the 21st century” as part of their Climate, Health and Equity Policy Action Agenda. (RELATED: Report: Green New Deal Could Cost Every US Household $65,000 A Year)

The groups are also offering political advice, urging lawmakers and presidential candidates to “meet and strengthen U.S. commitments” to the Paris climate accord that the United States is no longer a part of, after President Donald Trump announced in 2017 that he was making good on his promise to exit the environmental treaty.

US President Donald Trump returns to the White House on March 24, 2019 in Washington, DC after spending the weekend in Florida. Trump declared he had been completely exonerated after his campaign was cleared of colluding with Russia in the 2016 election campaign. (ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump returns to the White House on March 24, 2019 in Washington, DC after spending the weekend in Florida. (ERIC BARADAT/AFP/Getty Images)

“Therefore, we call on government, business, and civil society leaders, elected officials, and candidates for office to recognize climate change as a health emergency and to work across government agencies and with communities and businesses to prioritize action on this Climate, Health and Equity Policy Action Agenda,” the letter reads.

They are also fans of a carbon tax as part of an overall “plan and timeline for reduction of fossil fuel extraction in the U.S.”

Their agenda also mentions carbon pricing, without any reference to potentially taxing emissions, and “a plan and timeline for reduction of fossil fuel extraction in the U.S.”

The coalition did not advocate a ban on “fracking,” where hydraulic power is used to force oil and gas out of the ground. Some Democratic presidential candidates are advocating such a ban.

Many Democratic presidential candidates are also declaring that climate change is the greatest crisis facing mankind today, with former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke comparing climate change warriors to “those who were on the beaches in Normandy,” in a reference to the D-Day landings. New Jersey Democratic and presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker has also compared fighting climate change to fighting the Third Reich.

Beto O’Rourke speaks onstage at the MoveOn Big Ideas Forum at The Warfield Theatre on June 1, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Kimberly White/Getty Images for MoveOn)

Beto O’Rourke speaks onstage at the MoveOn Big Ideas Forum at The Warfield Theatre on June 01, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Kimberly White/Getty Images for MoveOn)

Even former Vice President Joe Biden warns in his climate change plan that life as we know it could be unalterably changed within the next 12 years if climate change is not confronted. (RELATED: 2020 Democrats Have Promised To Spend Trillions Fighting Global Warming. Here Are Their Plans)

The Daily Caller reached out to the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society for comment. None of these groups have as yet replied to that request.

Follow David on Twitter