Cambridge Forum; WGBH Forum Network; Health Impacts of Global Warming

Kim Knowlton doctor of Public Health. Is senior scientist with the Health and Environment Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Where she leads to global warming and health project. She is assistant clinical professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia University and chair of the global climate change and health committee of the environment section at the American Public Health Association. She is among the signers who participated in the IPCC the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report back in 2007. She joins us to discuss global warming a matter of health. Welcome to Cambridge forum. Thank. You. Thank you Tim. Thank you Pat. Thanks to the Cambridge forum for inviting me and for my fellow scientists who has spoken before for their incredible work. And to

everyone listening here to everyone listening on the radio for your attention because our full attention is very much what is needed to direct at this issue and toward this fact that global warming is indeed a matter of health. And I'd like to talk just a little bit about that. And also to remind us of this that we do have the means right now through legislation through technological innovation that is in our hands to transform the energy systems that we use towards clean nonpolluting sources that can create a healthier safer cleaner environment. And later this afternoon this evening Andre is going to be speaking under a Zaleski I will be talking a little bit about roles of citizen activism along with Ken Ward to talk about what people can do in that regard moving toward action. But I want to talk about health because I'm a health scientist. I know that you have a lot of expertise here in Cambridge and probably

right here in the room a lot of knowledge. I want to share with you what I know about global warming and its health impacts. Global warming has far reaching effects on health. It worsens a range of health impacts and health problems that already exist with us and it increases the severity of those current health risks. They really vary depending on where you live. So different communities will face different relative health effects that are more dependent on the geography of where they live. Let me give you a sort of sense of the range of climate sensitive health impacts some of which have already been mentioned today. Heat waves ozone smog ground level smog longer pollen seasons that can cause allergies allergic reactions. Wildfires extreme weather events floods and droughts increased food and water contamination that can lead to diarrheal illnesses vector borne diseases that are moving into new geographic areas that are

affected by these climate changes and other human activities. I'll talk about these in a little bit more detail. And remember too that climate related disasters are having significant harmful long term effects on mental health. We're discovering this in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita here in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world. Most certainly we see that today. We have to remember that global warming has a human face. Now I don't have some of the really compelling pictures and graphics that the previous speakers had. And that means that our radio companions aren't going to miss anything. But I'm going to have to ask everyone here in the room and elsewhere to really try and capture these faces of people affected by global warming. In your mind's eye. I want to share with you these facts fact. The World Health Organization estimates that already more than 150000 deaths each year are due to climate change effects on malaria

malnutrition and gastrointestinal illnesses. That's today a fact during 2003. Europe had a two week heat wave that killed more than 35000 people. More than 35000 with friends bearing the brunt of fatalities at 15000. Here in the U.S. by 2050 heat related summer mortality in New York City is projected to double. By the 20 80s Boston could see two months of days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Philadelphia an entire summer of days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit has been projected by the 20 80s. Fact. One hundred ten million Americans live in areas with unhealthy summer smog and ragweed which is a plant a fairly common plant but whose allergenic pollen can make late summer white ball when it's combined with smog. Late summer is the season when a ground level smog and ragweed

pollen are high in the air due to global warming. Eastern U.S. cities have been projected to see 60 percent more unhealthy smog days by 2050 as temperatures rise. Lab studies have shown that right we could produce three hundred twenty percent more pollen under those higher CO2 levels. Now I mentioned sort of at the beginning of the this fact section. Global warming is human face. There are many members of the public who who see global warming is primarily affecting sort of the image of polar bears a polar bear struggling to survive on a melting ice floe. Certainly the ecosystem effects of melting polar ice are devastating are extremely important in particular not only to ecosystems but to human populations in the Arctic who survive on polar bears. Other mammals first food supplies are great you know subsistence. But I would propose as has been suggested by experts at the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention that besides the polar bear another image another face attached to the health effects of climate change could be that of an asthmatic child struggling to get along full of air. That's because as temperatures get hotter and worsen smog pollution and higher carbon dioxide makes pollen production worse. Particles emitted along with global warming pollutants as we burn fossil fuels present a triple whammy. Unfortunately to the health of the estimated 7 million children and 16 million adults with asthma in the U.S.. Those are the faces of global warming. Fact one hundred seventy three million Americans in 28 states now live in counties with one or both of the mosquitoes that can carry a fever. This is a potentially devastating viral illness that's increased globally some 30 fold in the last 50 years. In fact

storms with extreme rain have increased 24 percent in the U.S. in the last 60 years. These extreme rain events can wash pathogens into drinking water supplies. One of these water borne illness outbreaks in Milwaukee sickened over 400000 people in 1993 and resulted in 69 deaths. One study of global warming. In the Great Lakes that projected to the end of this century. Looked and projected that those kind of disease causing flood events could possibly double in frequency by the end of the century. As temperatures rise and heavy rainfalls increase. In fact the dry western U.S. states are already seeing less snowfall and reduced summer stream flows in the last half of the 20th century. Warmer spring and summer temperatures since 1987 have been associated with a four fold increase in wildfires and those are wildfires that burn more than an acre and a half

of territory. And the smoke from these fires can have substantial effects on respiratory health. Hundreds of miles downwind fact outside of the U.S. last October saw devastating flooding in India that left one and a half million people homeless. And five million people without food. Now while we cannot say that these events were all a result of climate change some at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center have noted that sudden swings from drought periods to flood periods like those India experienced are consistent with projections of climate change weather patterns. And the last fact to that sort of encapsulates much of these other pieces of information. An estimated sixty five hundred climate related disasters have occurred since 1980. That's a number that's doubled in the last 30 years by the year 2015

which is right around the corner now. It's projected that worldwide three hundred seventy five million people each year could be displaced from their homes by climate related disasters. Some researchers here in the U.S. have projected that climate refugees. That is those people whose needs must be met for food shelter for sustenance could be the biggest impact the biggest help biggest social the biggest environmental justice impact of global warming that we will be faced with. OK now unfortunately these people. Some of whom are most vulnerable to those impacts are those who can least afford another assault on their health. Women and children are among those who are most at risk. Some of the other vulnerable most vulnerable to climate change health impacts also include poor communities who don't have extremely expensive financial resources or access to public health infrastructure. City dwellers where heat and air pollution can be

at their worst. Communities of color who tend to live near polluting facilities both here in the U.S. and abroad. Those are among the most climate vulnerable populations. Other climate vulnerable groups tend to be older people people with breathing or heart ailments. The obese people with migraines. People who get kidney stones people who are active outdoors. Have I mentioned anyone that you know I mean in this group but these are all people whose health can be especially harmed by the effects of climate change. There are other impacts to this sort of group. This enlarging group of people whom climate global warming effects there's dollar and cents impacts to consider some of these numbers with colleagues from the California Department of Health and RTC scientists looked at hospitalizations in emergency room visits during a July 2006 heat wave in the state of California that was so big in which temperatures were so extreme it affected essentially the entire state of

California. Over the course of just 18 days. There were over 16000 additional emergency room visits and nearly 12 hundred additional hospitalizations across the state at an estimated cost of one hundred thirty three million dollars. For consider a 2009 study by the National Research Council. This was done for the U.S. Treasury which estimated our energy bills in the U.S. are one hundred and twenty billion dollars higher than they appear due to the hidden costs associated with air pollution created by burning fossil fuels. Over 90 percent of these hidden costs are due to premature deaths implying that at least 18000 Americans die each year to support fossil fuel use. That's one hundred twenty billion dollars right now in assessed health costs each year from illness and death from harmful health effects of three air pollutants that are

associated with fossil fuels and that's particles sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. I mean these dollars are translating into family members into health into coughing wheezing hospitalizations or having a shorter life from air pollution. It's time to take action. And the good news is there are tools to avoid these kind of health impacts. I mean that's sort of the counterpoint to a litany of very sobering news that we need to attend to. Attention must be paid. The good news is there are strategies to address this and there's a great deal of opportunity to take. Right now we have at our fingertips some strategies to start to address the climate health crisis that is here. Ideas for stabilizing the climate and improving health. At the same time as sometimes you hear people I'm sure that in this room that you have talk about win win solutions for health code benefits is one of the previous speakers mentioned air pollutants like fine particles air toxic and smog precursor

chemicals are produced at the same time as global warming pollution when fossil fuels are burned by burning less fossil fuels or driving fewer cars making more bike or walking paths or creating more public transit options. We get a double benefit or this win win so-called solution. We get cleaner air and water today. We get cooler healthier world environment tomorrow for our children and grandchildren to enjoy when we design communities where people can bike to work where kids can walk to school safely. And all neighborhoods have options for fast inexpensive bus service to get to work or get into the city center. That's a win win. Your kids have a safe way to get to school. They get more exercise and we reduce global warming pollution right now and for the future and the kicker is these healthy solutions save us money in health costs from reduced respiratory illness asthma and heart problems that are

associated with stress and air pollution. And the children all of us are getting more exercise and helping to prevent obesity and diabetes which are in a a national epidemic proportions right now. So with legislation that the Senate is considering there are opportunities to create new energy and tech jobs right here in America not overseas and at the same time limit the amount of global warming pollution and improve health health. It's what it all boils down to. It makes sense to reward companies that reduce their pollution and hold polluters accountable. For over a decade in RTC the Natural Resources Defense Council. Where I work has been working to stop global warming. There are a set of policy solutions that can halt and eventually reverse this drastic increase in greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and potential increases which have been dramatically discussed by the

the previous speakers and their science. Yet despite all of these important actions major disruptions will still occur over the next 20 to 50 years. And that's why preparedness adaptation is really critical. Vital. We can thrive. We can survive. We can seize opportunities. The health and safety of millions of people could be threatened with out us taking these preparedness steps. Action is needed today to prepare and protect our health and the planet's health ecosystem health. For some unavoidable health impacts the public health community needs to be at the table in writing community and state adaptation plans to prepare for climate change impacts. For ideas are emerging in climate health preparedness. 1. Determine who and where the most vulnerable communities live. To make sure environmental monitoring and health

reporting systems are really strong and well funded. Three design buildings and infrastructure to be energy efficient and climate smart. And for expand climate health education for the public for practitioners for professionals. Nationwide. And worldwide adaptation plans are starting to get underway. For example. Over a dozen U.S. cities including San Francisco Chicago Washington Philadelphia more. Already provide a coordinated warning systems. And response systems for heat waves. That target people who are most at risk from extreme heat. And at the same time that global warming is bringing new health challenges. Unfortunately budget cuts over the last decade have unraveled dozens of important programs that provide basic health protections in monitoring programs and health surveillance activities at state and national levels. We really need to be sure that these environmental monitoring

systems are fully funded supported and coordinated with animal human and environmental monitoring and reporting. Let me give you an example. A fever which I mentioned before is a good one. Nearly 4000 Americans have returned to the U.S. carrying the dengue a virus in the 10 years between 1995 and 2005 when travelers infected with Dengue Fever import the virus back into the U.S. especially during the warmer summer months when mosquitoes are active. It could increase the possibility of local transmission to other people. We'd like to see more testing of mosquitoes and people in the US so we can know when and where mosquitoes are carrying the dengue virus and if there's a response to climate changes. NRDC has released studies on a pollen smog heat and climate health preparedness and I invite everyone to access our website which is at NRDC dot org slash health

slash global warming. And I'm happy to share that with people and more information after the talk to you. We also need to address something else the looming shortage in the public health workforce which is estimated to be a quarter million shy by 2020. This convergence of a climate crisis striking a weakened health system could really spell serious trouble in the years to come. So. The alternative is to take these issues as a fantastic opportunity and mobilize science in this political savvy we have to raise the profile of health issues within this climate debate and help build momentum for a really meaningful greenhouse gas reductions. We need to support the creation of preparedness strategies that plan for the health impacts of global warming and we absolutely need to advocate for strong climate health education professional training enhanced monitoring and preparedness funding at all levels of government. There's really strong public health adaptation

language and funding provisions in the proposed legislation which the senators on Capitol hear Hill are now discussing. So in conclusion I want to remind you that there is a lot of positive momentum happening now. The public health community is engaged around the world as never before and sounding the alarm on the connection between climate change and health. And the need to create a healthier safer environment for everyone. We're at a critical point in history absolutely critical. We have the tools to help ourselves prepare for climate change and this is what International Physicians are calling the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. So with this chant in our hands to help ourselves and our kids and people around the world to improve health. New economic opportunities and a more secure collective future let's remember we are not done yet. There was work that was begun just

begun in Copenhagen. But as we keep talking let's also make sure that we get to work and make sure the others stay on track and keep working and working well. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank. You for joining us the Cambridge form listening to Kim Knowlton discussing global warming a matter of health floors open for questions. Thank you for all the very valuable information about the public health effects of global warming. I'm interested because you gave a great statistic about the number of deaths essentially caused by fossil fuel. Because they have health effects. But what's the number one team. Eighteen thousand per year. That was per year. And that was derived from that study. Right. The hidden cost. That's right. I immediately think of the number of deaths caused by automobiles which is much larger I think and I add them together

in my head and I think OK at what point do we get to go to the fossil fuel ext extractors and friend you know the big oil and big coal companies and treat them as we did the cigarette companies because of these deaths and us in our D.C. do any work like that if you know anybody who does. In terms of pursuing litigation. That is a strategy I think that there are many strategies being pursued right now. Legislated in the courts and you know through regulation but that is not one on which we are active right now. But I know there is so much in the hopper right now and some of those you know that strategy to pursue. I know that that has been mentioned of just in this last week. That's not one in which were engaged right now. Thank you for your question. Thank you very much. I took a lot of notes because I'm really interested in this

public health topic I've worked in a health field for years. My real issue though comes back to the political part of the political will and it's this. I wish the doctors would get more vocal about the need for climate change legislation. Doctors are very well respected in the community and it seems like for the great majority they're pretty much oblivious to this. And as another example and this isn't a doctor but a relative of a relative is getting a Ph.D. in public health and Policy at Harvard. And when I asked him what he was learning about global warming he basically said nothing. And I I would really love to get physicians on board so that their writing their writing their congressman calling their congressman visiting. I would love the A.M.A. to come out with a very strong statement of doctors even if you go to the doctors for Social Responsibility. Doctors Without Borders climate change is not mentioned or it's just one little teeny piece. And I just wonder what we can do to move doctors to act vocally

politically saying to the congressmen we need to act and we need to act now because no matter how much mitigation we do again we've got to bring that carbon dioxide down and we've got to get a bill passed. So what do you think we can do. Great point and actually in the last I would say in the last three years there's been a sea change in terms of the health care professional community really getting on board in terms of speaking out. I think there may have been some inertia around those professionals becoming advocates. And it's still a question in many people's minds but I'm thinking of some physicians and you know letters to elected officials that members of the A.M.A. have written that organizations like AP ha and other professional organizations the American Nurses Association American Academy of Pediatricians have signed on to that are very active now. There are. Articles in peer review journals that are authored by professional societies there was a prominent one in Lancet in the last

six months. So it is happening publicly that prefer professional societies are getting on board so I can suggest to you if you want to talk afterward I can I have one idea that I'll talk to you about my letter to you. I'd love to because it's happening but it definitely needs to happen in more flow and you know just talking to people or doctors they come and look you know like I think local It really matters. I think in training local doctors because doctors talk to people and really make and their respective patients. Yes yes I think it's a great idea. Yes I've been a member of the National Resource Defense Council for many many years very actively supporting it because of its overall umbrella concept of protecting our natural resources. And this is very very important to me because I live in a city and we have a lot of natural resources unfortunately they happen to be on the borders of the city and the original. So when

you start talking about potential you have for certain flooding in the future and now increase of ragweed and what's going to happen when the climate warms up. The solutions for those particular areas very often a very different than they are in city where we you know have our urban forest but in the outside of our cities we have our larger issues so if watersheds and flooding issues that you didn't go in at all to issues of solutions when it comes to urban natural resource protection because very often those two areas get conflicted and difficult to handle both at the same time. But maybe you can help to go around and talk and do your research as to how do you bridge the gap between the urban metropolis and the urban wild and how do we work together on that. That's been of the great difficulty

here in our city and I think in other places as well thank you. Sure. Of so many things come to mind when you say that. So it's a great question. Thanks for that question. I think it's just a matter of time limitation that I didn't talk more specifically about that because one thing that comes to mind is that regional planning of course makes a lot of sense because the city to the. The areas around the city the suburbs to the surrounding countryside can be seen as one entire region that makes a lot of sense since people who live outside of the city proper often work within. So you can connect you know what's happening within the whole area and talk about how an entire urban region response that's one thing maybe it makes more sense to look at entire urban area too in terms of the ragweed in fact that's something that is found quite often with in urban areas because it loves to grow in urban lots abandoned urban lots in the cracks of sidewalks. So it's interesting that the ragweed pollen bearing You know we problem is quite an urban phenomena as

well as a more rural and you know suburban issue too that's one thing. Many of these. Issues health issues that sound like there are outside of the city also bear on an urban population as well. But NRDC the last point that we have on urban and urban program that's very much about urban health planning in an air and energy program that is really directed at thinking how to integrate climate and health and urban issues so we're we're thinking actively about that. And I think that the website that I suggested will have more about that I'm happy to talk more we can talk after that. Thank you. Thank you. Ambrose Spencer from Cambridge I want to thank Tim Weiss school for having taught a wonderful course at Harvard night school trying to turn ordinary people and to a citizen scientist advocates. I have a question about the church. Christians

and their tradition is more associated with people hugging and tree hugging and. There's Creation Care magazine and there's some activity at the National Council of Churches. But what I'm wondering is what organizations do you work with at NRDC to to try to encourage a MUCH bit more Brod Christian recognition of the facts and the condition that faces us that Jesus Christ would be appalled at. I'm wondering how we can get the full spectrum of the Christian church all the way from the New Church Pentecostal Holiness all the way to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox onboard this assault on human health. Damage harm

has or destruction to to our children and our grandchildren it's something they ought to be concerned about. And you have the facts. But I'm wondering what organizations NRDC might have become aware of who are taking point on this so that perhaps the people in the audience who share this particular concern I bring might get in touch with them and learn the dialectic and cracking this particular part of the code to use Thom Hartmann's language. That's a great point because I know that the faith communities have been a really potent in a very you know rich partner with a lot of people doing climate and health work I know that Paul Epstein who's here a very prominent climate and health researcher has great collaboration is very rich with the faith communities. But the project that I work on as yet we don't have like active collaboration is but I would be very interested in investigating that. I mean ours is you know our project is growing but as yet I

haven't looked into that fully but I'd love to talk with you about that more. Sure. I'm Roger Shamal with the global warming Education Network out in Lexington. I want to thank the Cambridge forum and you for speaking about the health impacts of climate change. My question relates to the huge disconnect between what scientists and people such as yourself are telling us versus what the public understands and Jim Hansen who I believe is speaking tonight alludes to this disconnect. I am personally a scientist but I know someone in my extended family who thinks of science as a belief system which I don't understand. But but the question is Given all that you're telling us about health and the fact that most Americans don't seem to be concerned about this. I'm wondering if you can suggest anything or do anything as part of an

RTC to help get the message out to the Arab region American whether it's Joe six pack or Mary the beautician that what's coming down the pike is really much more serious than what they seem to understand that it would be worth making this transition away from. Fossil fuels that are going to run out eventually anyway to avoid these problems what can we do to get the message out to break the gridlock that we seem to be stuck in. I look to you more I think. Then you look to me for that answer because I've been doing that for the last few years and part of the dilemma I think is this what the science. Coming from both peer review journals as was mentioned previously earlier this afternoon. What we bring forward from those too frequently or let's just say frequently I think are scenarios that are quite.

Compelling but very sobering and we take them into the you know the public sphere and we take another. We bring another. The facts are brought forward. Taken together their cause for concern. But they can be rather the gravity of those can make people turn off into opening their minds to more information. So part of the. The question for the communication question is how do we live and what we need to pay attention to with what we need to take action on so that there's a balance like attention must be paid. Let's act on it so that we can move forward so instead of just being mired in too much it's just let's move let's go forward health. It's all there let's go. And I think it's it's really the public the educated public that can help scientists understand what's the balance because we absolutely need to get going and go towards health we can't seem mired where

too frequently we get to. So that's why the the the message about the tools we have in hand but it's attention. And there is a tension there. And we're figuring out how to how to get to movement forward movement. And we're doing what we can of course and since you threw it back to me in a way as to what to do. My suggestion is that all of us who are concerned about this whether citizens are scientists or businessmen and try to get our fairly newly elected president who just spoke last night to get the message to the people whether it's through speeches by himself or John Holdren a science advisor or Steve Chu his secretary of energy or even paid ads by the government that reach Joe Six Pack while they're watching Biggest Loser whatever the show might be because I'm really concerned about this mostly as a parent and grandparent that my kids don't need to be facing this threat because we're too an

educated about the problem. So that's my suggestion to everyone here. Reach out and help people. I like your idea. Thank you. My question I think follows on the previous question a little bit. Lots of the early information those early studies that you talked about piling up and dealt with places that were far away and diseases that were far away from America and Western Europe. And I wonder what kind of pattern you see in terms of bringing. More. Stories of change close to home. Out. I mean you had information about emergency room visits. But what what is happening in terms of bringing the idea of my health. In Massachusetts. Or.

Do we tell in Paris. Being affected by climate change. I think that the research the body of research is strongest in terms of the effects of heat on health climate change on heat health and air pollution climate change air pollution in particular ozone smog and health. Carbon dioxide a major global warming pollutant on pollen bearing weak species like ragweed. We're learning about that. But from lab and field studies there are some really compelling evidence and certainly allergens have such a. Direct effect on health. So there's a really interesting new work and a lot of attention being paid their infectious diseases in the field because those are complex systems with a lot of environmental and human determinants that go into those systems those are more complex to really see the you know the

effects of environmental change one to one to one because they're so multi-factorial. So those are more complex so I would say heat air pollution probably aero allergens are at the top of the list for our best understood. And then. Rainfall the effect of climate change on rainfall in climate models in future models a little bit more elusive because of our understanding of atmospheric tough being more elusive in the physics of the atmosphere. So flooding storm events and the health effects it then follow is also more elusive to project him though one thing that sort of builds on what was said this morning especially the map we had of Cambridge potentially under water. I remember we heard recently that maps on the wall. With a public health specialist in the room who said kind of out loud.

At least a lot of us heard it. Do you guys realize what rats and mice do in reference to rising water. And someone sort of chirped up from the back of them well at MIT's underwater but Harvard's above it as it were. But to which someone else responded. We always wondered why all the rats ended up at Harvard. To which the response was Well maybe not all of them one of them jumped ship last year Larry Summers left I guess but the question of the vector of species which you raised mainly in reference to. Dengue fever and mosquitoes is multiplied by other vector species including for example every time there's a wildfire in California Great out migration of rodents from canyons some of which carried the plague quite readily into urban and suburban areas and I think public health people have a vocabulary to talk

about inner species interaction in a way that the rest of us haven't yet developed. But to keep the focus on. Monitoring as it were the humans vectors and infections. Simultaneously. The parameters are shifting I think is a very powerful way to go and I look forward to many more of your publications from yourself and colleagues on this because once you publish them in peer review journals we can start to talk about them in Florida like this. We just had a paper that came out in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in the January February 2010 issue on just that topic called the climate wildlife human nexus and the connection between climate change animal and human illnesses. And it's very readable it's very accessible and and there's a lot of interest in the different federal agencies and the need to make those connections. So it's a very timely subject. You bring up. Thank you.

Well we're grateful that we can post as you mentioned it up on the website we're putting together for these exchanges climate research inductee. If you're interested. I'm afraid this is not exactly a question I'm sharing a research resource. There is an organization called the Center for Research on environmental decisions cred associated with Columbia University that has put out a really very useful well-designed guidebook for press and other people who are doing public presentations on how to talk about climate change. It's w w w dot Columbia dot edu slash Craig C R eady. It's a forty seven page Free download. No but gee I would like to know I'm I'm using I'm using the

book because I'm becoming more active and I want to do more speaking and it's just it's just what I need so much. Thank you very much for everyone from everyone. Hello. Thank you so much for your presentation in telling us so much about health and climate. And I'm here for the same reason to really give a resource because one gentleman was wondering if there's not a an organization here in Massachusetts there is an interfaith organization or a Christian organization and looking at the issues of climate. And I wanted to tell you about mass interfaith power and light. You can find us. You can find us on the Internet at. I'm on the executive committee my name is Susan Allman Oh and I have my card so you could get by our website but it's p a n d l dot org. And what we primarily do is go to

different faith communities we are a membership organization. But we go to faith communities and we talk about climate change and what can be done in your faith community. Mostly energy efficiency work. We are capable of coming out and doing what we call an environmental stewardship ship assessment which is an energy audit and helping to find the financing to get the work done. But we do much more as well we also work in the area of promoting legislative change policy change and are working on creating green jobs. Training Program in lower income communities starting in Lawrence. So it's a very good resource to start to to do this work of what can we do and I know this is probably going into what our next session is about. But you know addressing these issues through faith communities is something that is being done in Massachusetts. The current police join me in thanking you for that. Thank you.