Call for oil companies to pay health care costs associated with climate change - WCAX
Call for oil companies to pay health care costs associated with climate change
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Experts predict health care costs could soar over $5 billion in the next 25 years due to worsening climate change, and some Vermonters are demanding major oil companies foot the bill.
Health care providers and climate activists gathered in Burlington on Wednesday to share their concerns about the increasing frequency and intensity of health problems related to climate change.
“Lung disease, mental health conditions, skin infections, in our region Lyme disease, direct physical injuries from climate events, heat-related illness, water contamination... The list goes on and on,” said Dr. Beth Zigmund, an associate professor of radiology at the UVM Larner College of Medicine.
Most of these afflictions would be seen by primary care doctors, but an existing primary care doctor shortage already forces many to go without care. One physician said climate change would worsen the gap.
Activists hope lawmakers consider the Climate Fair Share Act which has already been introduced in New York , Massachusetts and Maryland.
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”