Letter to Connecticut General Assembly

May 24, 2023

Dear Senate President Martin Looney, Speaker of the House Matthew Ritter, and Members of the Connecticut General Assembly

Connecticut Health Professionals for Climate Action (CHPCA) request your support for climate and environmental justice legislation SB1147 and HB6397. We are a newly formed nonpartisan interdisciplinary alliance of Connecticut health professionals who recognize that climate change represents a public health emergency of the largest magnitude. Climate change has been shown to have serious health impacts due to many factors including:

• Heat illness and death due to more frequent heat waves

• Asthma, COPD and heart disease due to increased air pollution

• Allergies due to the increase in potency, amount, and duration of pollen season 

• Tick and mosquito transmitted tropical diseases such as West Nile, Lyme Disease, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), and chikungunya

• Diarrheal disease and food poisoning due to water contamination during flooding events

• Injury and psychological trauma during natural disasters, such as hurricanes and extreme storms

These health effects are only predicted to worsen as our climate continues to warm. 

Additionally, those already living in environmentally overburdened communities are being disproportionately impacted by these effects. We require immediate action to curtail these health impacts.

HB6397 allows our state to set intermediary greenhouse gas emission goals to ensure we are on track to meet our 2040 zero-carbon electric grid goal. Currently we are not on track to meet these standards and we require more precise roadmaps and targets to achieve this goal. 

SB1147 further strengthens environmental justice law and will help to protect our most vulnerable communities. Populations that have highly polluting facilities in their communities face an array of health problems stemming from chronic exposure to pollutants and chemicals. We should ensure that new permitting of such facilities is not allowed in these areas. 

Our environment and human health outcomes are inextricably linked. As health professionals from across the state, we understand these issues are currently impacting our patients and are only predicted to worsen over time. We cannot delay any further. We urge you to pass SB1147 and HB6397.

Thank you for your consideration,
CHPCA Steering Committee