CARB Scoping
Plan Testimony; June 23, 2022
Robert M. Gould,
MD (311 Douglass Street, SF CA 94114)
My name is
Dr. Robert M. Gould. Over the last decade I’ve been
an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Program on Reproductive
Health and the Environment (PRHE) at the UCSF School of Medicine.
I’m submitting this testimony in my role as President of the
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Physicians for Social
Responsibility (PSR), representing hundreds of health professionals
and students, who seek to protect the health of our patients and
communities, who are increasingly threatened by our rapidly
advancing climate emergency and the serious health impacts of
fossil fuel extraction, including severe pollution of air, water
and land. All of our concerns are underscored by the recently
released assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change that is unequivocal in its call for urgent action to ensure
an energy-efficient and fossil-free future.
Examples of our health and
climate crisis in California include our horrific wildfires,
flooding, mudslides and unprecedented heat waves. And with
unrelenting COVID, we’ve witnessed the special toll on our
poor and communities of color who are chronically exposed to
dangerous air pollution from our continued use of fossil
fuels.
We believe that CARB should
greatly improve its draft 2022 Scoping Plan to
better reflect the urgency of the climate crisis,
and to make sure is clearly framed by health and equity concerns
that specifically and most expeditiously address the needs of our
most overburdened communities.
As such,we
strongly urge you to:
1. Plan for a full,
coordinated phase out of fossil fuels, with
targets for oil refining by 2045 and oil and gas extraction by 2035
(and including at least a 3200-foot setback from homes, schools,
hospitals and other sensitive receptors).
2. Transition
to clean, non-polluting zero-emission electric
grid by 2035.
3. Develop
an equitable pathway to building
decarbonization retrofits in addition to mandating
building electrification in new construction. Phase out sales of
new gas appliances by 2030 and ensure a full decommissioning of the
gas distribution system by 2045.
4. Accelerate and
scale up investments in clean vehicles and mass
transit. Plan for 100% zero emission transit buses and
drayage trucks by 2030 and 100% zero emission medium- and
heavy-duty truck sales by 2035. Plan for 30% reduction
in vehicle mile traveled (VMT) by 2035, and
incorporate health cost savings from VMT
reduction (increased physical activity) in your cost
analysis.
5. Eliminate reliance
on climate policy dead ends, such as expensive, risky and unproven
carbon capture, storage and utilization (CCUS) and Carbon Capture
and Storage (CCS) which introduce a new set of public
health hazards.
6. Prioritize
strategies that lead to urgent direct emission
reductions rather than relying on ‘carbon
neutrality’ based on projections of unrealistic
levels of direct air capturein 2045.
7. Implement
a just transition for every worker, and
community, to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for
all.
In addition to the foregoing, there is
an imperative need for a health equity evaluation process to be
specifically integrated into the design of, and completed prior to
adoption of the Scoping Plan, with the resultant health equity
analysis being a key tool to inform the selection and
prioritization of the various strategies being
considered. We believe that additional health analyses must be
conducted in the implementation of each separate strategy, and
that CARB must ensure
that actual health outcomes are
monitored and evaluated in this process. Quantitative analyses
should be conducted whenever feasible, but lack of quantitative
data should not become an excuse for neglecting robust and
comprehensive health equity analysis.
These steps, in line with policies promulgated by the American Medical
Association (AMA), American Public Health Association and numerous
health specialty societies urging swift climate
action, can contribute significantly towards assuring the security,
health and survival of our children and grandchildren by helping
avert the catastrophic health consequences of global warming that
now threaten all human civilization.