While the EPA has the authority to regulate levels of CO2, a budget bill passed by the House of Representatives last the weekend prohibited the EPA from exercising that authority. Meanwhile, other bills are pending in Congress that would significantly delay the agency's ability to regulate air pollutants.
AMA has a number of policies on the books regarding climate change, including a resolution supporting the EPA's authority to regulate the control of greenhouse gases, and a statement endorsing findings from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that concludes the Earth is undergoing adverse climate changes, and that humans are a significant contributor to the changing weather.
In that statement, the AMA said it supports educating the medical community about climate change and its health implications through medical education on topics such as "population displacement, heat waves and drought, flooding, infectious and vector-borne diseases, and potable water supplies."
The statement also said the AMA supports physician involvement in policymaking to "search for novel, comprehensive, and economically sensitive approaches to mitigating climate change to protect the health of the public."
