American Lung Association: Climate Change is Occurring Now and Man- made Carbon Dioxide is the Major Cause

– U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt stated in an interview with CNBC today that he does not agree that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. In response, Harold P. Wimmer, National President and CEO of the American Lung Association, issued the following statement:

“Climate change already endangers the lives and lung health of Americans. From record-breaking heat and wildfires to super storms and floods, our changing climate challenges our health and our future. The American Lung Association is particularly concerned about the implications for those with or at risk for lung disease, as climate change not only makes air quality worse and harder to clean up, but imposes many other risks to their health. We firmly support concrete action to reduce carbon dioxide as a crucial step to lessening those threats.

“From NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the National Academy of Sciences and beyond, there is an overwhelming consensus among scientists that humans are changing our climate and that carbon dioxide is one of the chief agents causing those changes. U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s statement that disregards the science of climate change is unacceptable. As the leader of the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Pruitt has a responsibility to protect not only the environment but also the health of all Americans placed at risk from environmental threats, including those posed by carbon dioxide and climate change

“This is not a matter of believing, it is EPA’s obligation under the Clean Air Act. The longer EPA and the Trump Administration wait to take action on climate change, the more harm to public health and deaths will occur that could have been prevented.”