Let's Hit the Reset Button
You don't have to choose.
You don't need any more emails or ads to tell you we're living in “unprecedented times.” We're inundated with news about economic volatility, the ongoing pandemic, record-breaking wildfires and dangerous hurricanes. Amidst all of these challenges, it can seem overwhelming to determine our country's priority concerns. We see this as the 2020 election gets underway. Though a majority of voters say climate change is a very or somewhat important issue in their choice for President, a larger share of voters see the economy and healthcare as very important—not surprising considering how COVID-19 has crushed businesses and livelihoods while exposing the failures in our medical care system. So where do we focus our attention: the economy, healthcare, or climate change?
We at C-Solutions want to bring you a simple message: you don’t have to choose.
And by this, we mean that all of the challenges we’re now facing present us with an opportunity, a potential inflection point in climate adaptation and mitigation. By forcing us to confront issues affecting our economy, our health, and our planet at the same time, we can enact policies that improve all of these together while also closing racial and socioeconomic gaps. The term for this approach—“multisolving”—refers to the way we can solve multiple problems with a single investment of time and money.
The Economy: The challenges we face with climate change and the economy, for example, are undeniably linked. In California, recurring wildfires are causing property values to drop and make it harder to afford or even obtain home insurance. In the American South, where the agricultural economy depends largely on outdoor work, extreme heat reduces productive hours by 15% during the hottest months. Nationally, droughts create economic losses of nearly $9 billion each year.
Our Health: Now let’s add in the health impacts. Heat waves are associated with higher rates of mortality and lower birth rates. Scientists have had to coin new terms – “eco anxiety” and “solastalgia”—to describe the mental health impacts of climate change and what happens when people experience disasters like wildfires and hurricanes that dramatically change their familiar environments. Asthma, which is exacerbated by air pollution from events like wildfires, leads to worse health outcomes, and creates an enormous burden on the US healthcare system.
In short, the economic and health effects of climate change are already being felt across the country. We have an opportunity to respond in a way that protects our economic, physical, mental, and planetary well-being, and that of future generations. To our advantage, solutions already exist. For example, enacting policies to better prepare for, manage, and respond to wildfires could protect property values and maintain carbon-sequestering forests, while reducing health impacts. Empowering energy sector workers to transition from extracting coal to working on renewables will reduce their exposure to disease-causing coal dust while also creating sustainable job growth.
"The Great Reset", a concept promoted by the World Economic Forum, embraces this potential for change. It sees our current political, health, and economic disruptions as an opportunity to reevaluate and improve upon all of our systems—from health and transportation to financial markets. This deliberate focus on building back a greener, healthier world is making waves. TIME's November international issue features the opportunities and potential of the Great Reset. The Rockefeller foundation announced a $1 billion grant for a green COVID recovery, stating that “There’s no going back to the past, to before-Covid. We need to reimagine the future we want.”
Climate, the economy, and public health are not a zero-sum game. As we muster our individual and collective will to recover from and adapt to these “unprecedented times,” we should advance evidence-based policies that reflect that reality. We need to translate the momentum gathering around a "Great Reset" in the philanthropic, nonprofit, and private sectors into meaningful policy change.
For more information about what we're doing today to build a healthier future for everyone, visit our website. You can read about our current projects or find out more about our team. Read our blog posts and announcements here. You can also partner with us or donate to support our work. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to this newsletter to stay connected.
CENTER NEWS
Park Equity, Life Expectancy, and Power Building Two-Part Webinar Series
C-Solutions is proud to co-sponsor this two-part webinar series alongside Prevention Institute and UCLA's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. Join us to learn more about Prevention Institute’s new Advocacy Toolkit to push for park equity. The toolkit was developed through research in Los Angeles County and provides insights for communities across the country.
Part 1: Join us on Wednesday, November 18 from 10 AM - 11:30 AM PT to learn more about our life expectancy predictive model research process, methodology, findings, and possible replication.
Part 2: Join us on Thursday, December 10 11:30 AM - 1 PM PT to learn more about policy advocacy and power building for park equity.
You can access the agenda and register for this webinar series here.
Dr. Michael Jerrett discusses how air pollution and COVID-19 can be a deadly mix in the Los Angeles Times
“What we’re seeing in the L.A. study is definitely clear signals that people who live in more polluted neighborhoods tend to have higher death rates from COVID.”
For more center news, click here.
COFFEE CHAT: DR. JONATHAN FIELDING
Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Founder and Co-Director of UCLA C-Solutions, discusses how policy and advocacy can play a critical role in climate adaptation.
FROM THE BLOG
Students in the Hot Seat: The Impact of Heat on Learning
Increased heat can affect students’ academic performance, especially students who are Black, Hispanic, or from low-income families.
For decades, we’ve understood that climate change poses a risk to our physical and natural resources. However, in recent years, there has been growing awareness of the direct effects of climate change on humans. Adverse consequences may show up as health impacts, such as heat stroke, or they may manifest as subtle but consequential disruptions to students’ academic performance. Read more >>