Climate change is a health crisis: Climate solutions are health solutions
About Us:
Maine Health Professionals for Climate Action (MHPCA) is a coalition of health professionals including (but not limited to) nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians, students and public health practitioners concerned about the impacts of climate change on all those who live, work, and visit Maine.
MHPCA was founded based on the following truths:
Climate change is one of the most important threats to human health of our time.
As consistently trusted messengers to the public, health professionals have a crucial role to play in raising public awareness of the health threat posed by climate change and in catalyzing action.
Climate change poses multiple health risks to communities in the US and around the globe, including health-harming air pollution, extreme heat, increased risk of natural disasters, infectious diseases and much more. People of color and communities living in poverty who are more likely to be exposed to pollution from fossil fuels experience greater harm.
We must end our reliance on fossil fuels in our homes, transportation, and heavy industry and instead increase energy efficiency, improve climate resilience, and the use of clean energy sources. We must also institute agricultural and forestry practices that result in significant drawdown of greenhouse gases. We seek to do this through both individual and community action as well as significant policy change.
These changes in energy choices will improve the quality of our air and water and bring immediate health benefits.
What We Do
MHPCA engages Maine health professionals to learn about the health harms of climate change and to educate their patients and communities about these harms; advocate for equitable solutions that protect all those who live, work, and visit Maine; and support a sustainable future for our world.
Mission
Harness the power and voices of Maine health professionals to educate and advocate for climate and health
Vision
Everyone who lives, visits, and works in Maine enjoys clean air and a healthy environment; Maine leads by example and contributes to a healthy world climate.
Primary Goal
To eliminate the use of fossil fuels. While we recognize this is an ambitious goal, we firmly believe it is essential to achieve our vision of a healthier future for our patients, neighbors, and families.
Equity Statement
We acknowledge the existing health disparities resulting from years of racism and systematic disinvestment in Indigenous communities and communities of color. We recognize how the extracting and burning of fossil fuels and resulting climate change disproportionately impacts people of color, the elderly, and the young and low-income and other marginalized communities. We strive to learn from those who have been disproportionately impacted and amplify their voices and their solutions to ensure the health and well-being of all people.