NH Climate Health Action Talk
NH CHAT
February, 2024
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Working Group Updates
Climate and Health Survey
Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health Annual Meeting
Sustainable Healthcare: The Next Steps
2023 Annual Fundraising Campaign a Success!!
Winter Challenge
Working Group Updates
Behavioral Health Working Group:
Join the working group on Tuesday, February 20th from 6:00 - 7:00 PM to discuss the Disaster Behavioral Response Team with Skyler Conway from NH DHHS.
Dr. Bob Feder, leader of the Behavioral Health Working Group, just presented, “Preparing Vulnerable Populations for 2024 Heat Waves: Heat and the Psychiatric Patient” and “Self-Care for Climate Activists” at the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health Annual Meeting 2024.
CHICKs Working Group:
Welcome Maria Finnegan, Director of CHICKs!
Maria will lead the CHICKs project in 2024, with the goal of building on the success of the program's first year. Early goals and events include hosting an Earth Day launch and implementing our K-5 Adventures in Climate and Health curriculum at the Rochester Child Care Center, as well as expanding the Parent Climate Cafe program statewide. We also plan to continue our work with the Boys & Girls Clubs with the hopes of reaching new families in the state, and begin engaging in advocacy work around children’s health.
If you are interested in becoming a climate cafe facilitator or volunteering for upcoming CHICKs events please reach out to Maria directly at mfinnegan@nhclimatehealth.org.
CHICKs is proud to be among the semifinalists of ecoAmerica’s American Climate Leadership Awards 2024. Read about the ACLA24 semifinalists work here.
Climate Justice Working Group
The NH Environmental Justice Roundtable discussions are underway, to collectively discuss environmental justice activities in NH and to build toward greater Environmental Justice in the state and region. Join these interdisciplinary discussions to learn how together we can make a difference to address environmental injustices in your community and New Hampshire. Find more information, dates, and registration links here.
Communications & Education Working Group
The Letters to the Editor and Op-Ed Writing Committee has published about 70 climate and health messages from the trusted voice of healthcare workers in news sources around New Hampshire. Read the most recent LTE, “Electricity prices falling in February is good news”, published by Dr. Darla Thyng in the Union Leader. To learn about writing LTEs and Op-Eds, and join our efforts, contact Emily.
Policy & Advocacy Working Group
Working group members Matt Cahillane, Paul Friedrichs, Cynthia Nichols, Bob Feder, and Bob Dewey, provided in person testimony to the NH Senate Health and Human Services Committee in support of SB 496: directing the department of health and human services to establish a climate and health protection program. Working group members also submitted written testimony in support of the bill.
View their testimonies in the recording of the hearing from the time, 2:43:22 - 3:07:50.
Readers are invited to join any of our working groups by contacting Emily at ethompson@nhclimatehealth.org.
Climate and Health Survey
Are you a NH healthcare worker? Please take our 5 minute Climate and Health Survey.
Climate change has the potential to negatively impact health outcomes through diverse mechanisms. Examples of impacts include: increase in vector-borne illnesses from more prevalent ticks and mosquitoes, longer allergy seasons, worsening air and water quality, heat-related illnesses, and the extreme weather effects of direct injury or indirect mental stress from displacement or property loss.
NH HWCA is conducting this survey to learn what you as healthcare workers are currently observing in your offices, healthcare facilities or community as a result of climate change and to understand your concerns about future health impacts if the trajectory of climate change continues.
We are proud to be a state affiliate of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and had a wonderful time participating in the 2024 Annual Meeting: From the Clinic to the Capitol, and educating elected officials on the health benefits of strong pollution standards.
Sustainable Healthcare: The Next Steps
By: Paul Friedrichs, MD, Board Chair
Those of us concerned about how our healthcare industry's huge carbon emissions are contributing to the climate crisis can easily feel overwhelmed by the scope of the problem. With US healthcare responsible for 8.5% of our national carbon pollution, and 27% of the world’s healthcare emissions (despite only 4.23% of the world’s population), what can we as individuals do to make a difference?
Don’t despair. Here are some ways to have an immediate impact:
If you work in a hospital, start a campaign— with an employee petition drive if necessary—to ensure your kitchen and cafeteria composts all food waste, offers compelling meat-free entrees, avoids use of single-use containers and plastic utensils, and recycles all recyclables.
If you work in an office, make sure the break room doesn’t use disposable cups, plates or utensils, offers food-waste composting, and recycles all recyclables.
On a larger scale, you can prompt your organization to take advantage of the financial incentives offered by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades to healthcare facilities, either through tax rebates or, for nonprofit entities, direct cash payments for the rebate-eligible amounts. Critical access hospitals, health centers, and rural practices all qualify, and a new “catalytic” program from the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity(OCCHE) at HHS can tell you how.
Starting this month (February, 2024), the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) is offering free, weekly online information sessions on how to leverage these funds for your health facility.
Potential projects can range from solar panels and battery storage, air or geothermal exchange pumps for heating and cooling, electric vehicles and EV chargers to energy efficiency building upgrades, and much more.
2023 Annual Fundraising Campaign a Success!!
Thank you once again to all who donated to the 2023 Annual Fundraising Campaign. We're grateful to all the donors that made a contribution to the 2023 Annual Fund Campaign. We raised over $31,000, surpassing our goal of $25,000. This support is the critical funds NH HWCA needs to run our operations, in particular the fabulous work of our Director of Operations, Emily. We also use these funds to run our website and our communications with our members and followers. Thank you again, we look forward to continuing working with you on finding and implementing climate and health solutions in NH.
Winter Challenge
By Darla Thyng, MD
When I look out the window there is a beautiful white layer covering my lawn and trees. My family has been out shoveling this winter 4 or 5 times. Not nearly as much as we did many years ago. However, I expect we have at least a few more days of shoveling before mud season. We have been talking about getting a snow blower so we can clear our pond for skating. However, we’re hesitant to buy a gas powered snow blower. The carbon emissions of a snow blower are estimated to be one pound of CO2 equivalent per hour. One Canadian article estimated there was at least 20,800,000 lbs of emissions being put into our atmosphere every year just by Canadian snow blowers. This was estimated to be about the same weight of 904,000 emperor penguins - that’s just crazy!! The Department of Environmental Quality is quoted as saying that the larger 4 stroke snow blowers emit as much carbon emissions in one hour as an average car being driven 339 miles. The emissions snow blowers generate are not just contributing to our greenhouse gasses but are emitting toxins into our immediate environment. The EPA published a study stating that gasoline powered lawn and garden equivalents as a whole produce significant amounts of volatile organic compounds (benzenes, formaldehyde etc) carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, particulates, and carbon dioxide. We are breathing all of this in!
Here is our Winter Chat Challenge:
1) This winter, commit to retiring your gas snow blower and replacing it with an electric one. If you are a first time buyer, choose electric.
2) Even better is to use manual labor (yours or your kids, or anybody else’s kids that you can find and bribe)
3) Or for a unique idea check out the Wovel. It was awarded Time Magazine’s Best invention of 2006. Looks like a great gift. Snow shoveling without carbon emissions or a backache!!!
Send me a note to let me know your thoughts and experiences!
Darla Thyng, MD
Busy as always with rethinking, refusing, reusing, and only then recycling.
