Online. Register here
Extreme heat is the deadliest—and fastest-growing—climate-related health hazard, especially for the most vulnerable patients, workers, and lower-income and frontline communities.
Physicians for Social Responsibility SF Bay Chapter is hosting a discussion on ways we can advocate for achievable protections against the health threats of extreme heat, including “equitable access to medical care, health info, and warning systems during extreme heat events; affordable cooling such as heat-cooling pumps; affordable and protected access to electricity; community cooling centers; labor laws to protect workers; and the phase out of fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy production to mitigate climate change.”
Panelists will discuss
* how we can act locally following the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s recent vote to phase out gas furnaces and ensure an equitable and just transition to heat-cooling pumps and protected electricity access
* what we can all do on the state-level to advocate for policies and regulations that ensure equal access to cooling and health protections, and a just transition to renewable energy and electrification.
SPEAKERS:
Rupa Basu, PhD, MPH, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency
Robin Cooper, MD, San Francisco psychiatrist, voluntary faculty associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, co-founder and current president of Climate Psychiatry Alliance.
Jessica Guadalupe Tovar, energy democracy organizer with the East Bay Clean Power Alliance and the Local Clean Energy Alliance.
Michael Rincon leads PSR-LA’s water work, organizing, educating, and advocating with Southeast Los Angeles communities and community groups on local drinking water issues.
Moderator:
Edgar Barraza leads PSR-LA’s statewide equitable building decarbonization policy efforts and supports building decarbonization policy efforts in the City of Los Angeles. He is also the lead point of contact for equitable building decarbonization at CEJA’s Energy Equity Committee and actively engages in the newly formed grassroots-led Healthy Homes and Resilient Communities Committee.
READINGS AND RESOURCES:
- HEAT WAVE Factsheets and Toolkits for staying safe and healthy during extreme heat weather events
- JAMA: Treatment and Prevention of Heat-Related Illness
- Local Clean Energy Alliance Resources
- PSR—Los Angeles: Clean Water and Air & Climate Justice Programs
- An In-depth Guide for Window Heat Pumps
- VOX Video: Learn how heat/cooling pumps work and why they are the future in 5 minutes
- Emerald Cities Collaborative Resources: a national nonprofit working on a just transition to a green economy
- Greenlining: Equitable Building Electrification: A Framework for Powering Resilient Communities
- FIND MORE health and building electrification resources here!