He came to me wheezing, ribs sucking in and out, his young body struggling to get words out. Oral steroids, inhalers — nothing made a difference.
My patient, an 8-year-old boy, is suffering from asthma. His asthma is exacerbated by the polluted air he breathes and the planet on which he lives, which is rapidly warming.
I am a primary care pediatrician and a mother of two children in Northern California. Half of my patients are publicly insured, children of construction workers and store clerks. My patients’ lives have been upended by COVID-19, their parents forced to choose between supporting their families and risking getting sick.
As a doctor and as a parent, I am terrified. But what keeps me up at night is climate change.
In my five years of clinical practice, I have held a 16-year-old girl as she cried in my arms after her state cross-country championship was canceled again because of wildfire smoke; hugged a terrified mother as she told me about evacuating her daughter with cerebral palsy — who relies on multiple electronic medical devices — during an emergency power shutoff; told a 12-year-old boy to quit his beloved baseball team because just being outside was exacerbating his asthma so badly.
I have provided refuge to my parents at 4 a.m. as they fled the licking flames of a wildfire a mile from their front door; packed go-bags with back-up versions of my children’s stuffed animals; started anti-anxiety medication because no amount of exercise can stop my mind from leaping 20, 30 years into my children’s future, our world hot and uninhabitable.
I am looking to reach parents like me, those of us who are still employed, who have some bandwidth, who are still planning socially distanced vacations. Those of us with the privilege and responsibility to do more.
Climate change is a systemic issue. Our economic and social structures are built on burning fossil fuels. That system is leading to unmitigated global warming, which is a direct threat to our children’s health and their future. None of us can solve climate change alone, but we can — and must — work together.
Here is how we can do that:
• Change the conversation. Climate change is about health, and specifically the health of our children. Your children. This is not just about polar bears; it’s about your family and my family. Talk about it.
• Vote for people who prioritize action to fight climate change in a real way and who aren’t taking money from the fossil fuel industry. Vote in every election, whether for president or local city council. Removing the current president, who calls climate change a hoax and has pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement, is not enough. Our local politicians determine land use, approve or deny permits for clean energy operations and oil and gas, and are responsible for climate action plans for our communities.
• Take personal responsibility, but as part of the larger system. Are you an alumnus of a university that is invested in fossil fuels? Speak up. Does your local elementary school include climate change in its curriculum? Speak up. Does your company or employer have a plan to decrease its carbon footprint? Speak up.
• Find a way to get involved. Mothers Out Front, Moms, Schools for Climate Action. There is a group for you: Go find it. This means bumping something else off your to-do list, maybe many things. This is for your kids.
I am a pediatrician, but I cannot do my job alone. I know first hand that many among us cannot act right now. However, many of us can. COVID will eventually end. There is no vaccine for climate change. For our children, we must rise up. This is parenting in 2020.
Amanda Millstein is a primary care pediatrician in Richmond. She is a co-founder of Climate Health Now. She tweets @AMillsteinMD.
"Opinion" - Google News
September 24, 2020 at 08:10PM
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Opinion: It’s climate change that keeps this Bay Area doctor up at night - The Mercury News
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