July 10, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Booker) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Recognizing that climate change poses a growing threat to public health and necessitates coordinated action to mitigate its impacts and safeguard the health and well-being of all people in the United States.
Whereas climate change is the most significant threat to human health in the 21st century, as affirmed by a broad scientific consensus, including more than 200 medical journals;
Whereas climate change is driving illness, injury, displacement, and death across the United States, including—
(1)
by worsening respiratory and allergy-related illnesses and contributing to an increase in cancer risks through climate change fueled-increases in air pollution, longer pollen seasons, and increased exposure to wildfire smoke, ground-level ozone, and fine particulate matter that threaten the health of over 150,000,000 people in the United States living in areas with unhealthy air;
(2)
by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes, often worsened by extreme heat waves;
(3)
by increasing direct and indirect behavioral and mental health complications, including pre-disaster anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, substance use disorder, domestic violence, and suicidality, linked to climate-driven disasters with children, pregnant individuals, people living in high-risk zones, communities of color, and low-income communities bearing the brunt of long-term psychological and emotional harm;
(4)
by disproportionately increasing the rates of homelessness and displacement among infants and young children, who face the highest risk of homelessness from climate disasters when living in substandard housing or high-risk zones;
(5)
by increasing the prevalence of food-, insect-, and water-borne diseases, as climate change expands the range and seasonality of vectors, while flooding and warming accelerate microbial contamination of food and drinking water;
(6)
by increasing water-borne pathogens, which already cause over 7,000,000 illnesses, 118,000 hospitalizations, and 6,600 deaths annually in the United States, a burden that is expected to rise as climate-driven extreme weather and warming destabilize water and sanitation systems;
(7)
by heightening the risk of pregnancy-related complications, including still birth and preterm birth, which studies show can increase by 1 to 2 percent for each additional day of extreme heat exposure and mounting death and disability resulting from extreme weather events that continue to displace and endanger millions of people in the United States annually; and
(8)
by increasing the prevalence of extreme weather events, which cause death and injuries and displace and endanger millions of people in the United States annually;
Whereas people with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to die or be injured during climate-related disasters, including heatwaves, hurricanes, and floods, due to evacuation barriers, medical equipment failures, and lack of accessible emergency infrastructure;
Whereas historically underserved communities, including post-industrial regions, rural areas, Tribal nations, low-income and working-class neighborhoods, communities of color, and people with disabilities and pre-existing comorbidities, face disproportionate health risks from climate hazards, such as extreme heat, severe storms, drought, and air and water pollution, often due to decades of systemic underinvestment and environmental injustice;
Whereas workers, including those in agriculture, construction, delivery, manufacturing, and warehouse settings, face growing health and safety risks from climate change-related hazards, such as extreme heat, poor air quality, and extreme weather, and require stronger protections, standards, and workplace rights to safeguard their well-being;
Whereas climate change costs the United States economy billions of dollars a year through its wide-ranging harms, including property damage, lost labor productivity, and increased rates of climate-related illness and mental health issues that strain the health care system of the United States;
Whereas, in 2024 alone, the United States experienced 27 separate billion-dollar climate disasters, each compounding both financial and public health burdens on the people of the United States;
Whereas resilient health care organizations that are equipped to remain operational during disasters are essential to their communities’ health, safety, recovery, and well-being;
Whereas the health care sector is responsible for approximately 8.5 percent of carbon emissions in the United States, exacerbating the climate crisis and health-related emergencies;
Whereas many emergency preparedness investments, such as improving energy efficiency, upgrading infrastructure, and installing onsite renewable energy and battery storage systems, bring health and sustainability benefits and yield significant operational savings for health care organizations;
Whereas health care organizations, providers, and frontline health workers require sustained Federal support, clear climate adaptation guidance that addresses both physical infrastructure and psychological resilience, and reliable, consistently accessible, and locally relevant data in order to assess local climate risks, identify strengths, resources, support networks, and other key protective factors, prepare for and respond to climate change-related health threats, equitably serve at-risk populations and patients, and expand access and protections for temporarily and permanently displaced populations following a disaster;
Whereas frontline health care workers and providers, particularly those in underserved and resource-limited settings, face increased physical, mental, and psychosocial health risks from climate change-related events, including extreme heat, poor air quality, infectious disease outbreaks, and disaster response demands, and must be equipped with the training, protections, and support necessary to continue delivering safe and equitable care; and
Whereas delivering such support and guidance requires collaboration and coordination across the public health, data infrastructure, health insurance, quality improvement, workforce development, environmental health, and emergency preparedness and response functions across the Department of Health and Human Services and relevant Federal agencies: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of the Senate that—
(1)
the Department of Health and Human Services should use all practicable means and measures to increase the health sector’s climate readiness and response, including increasing the ability to withstand and maintain operations during extreme weather events, strengthening the climate resilience of health infrastructure and supply chains, and lowering the sector’s environmental impact;
(2)
funding appropriated by Congress to facilitate energy efficiency retrofits, investments in clean vehicles and onsite renewable energy and storage, and planning for climate resilience projects by health care organizations and community-based organizations should be distributed without delay and with particular attention to historically underserved communities and organizations by the responsible Federal agencies;
(3)
the Department of Health and Human Services should prioritize technical assistance, capacity building, and equitable access to funding for Tribal health systems, rural hospitals and clinics, and historically underresourced health care providers to support climate adaptation and preparedness;
(4)
Federal agencies with responsibilities for public health, health care, and environmental data, including the Department of Health and Human Services, should orchestrate and support efforts to close information gaps and synthesize data on the health impacts of climate change, including mitigation and adaptation strategies, and use that information to develop timely, targeted, accessible, and evidence-based education and communication tools on climate-related health threats;
(5)
the Department of Health and Human Services should fully reinstate the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity and the Office of Environmental Justice with the staffing and resources necessary to lead and coordinate departmental efforts, guide equitable implementation, and use all available levers to address the health impacts of climate change for all people in the United States, and particularly for those most at risk;
(6)
critical agencies, staff, and programmatic functions necessary to support the goal of reducing the health impacts of climate change should be fully funded, reinstated, and supported, including—
(A)
those within the Administration for Children and Families;
(B)
the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response;
(C)
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality;
(D)
the Indian Health Service;
(E)
those within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as the National Center for Environmental Health, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; and
(F)
those within the National Institutes of Health, including the Climate Change and Health Initiative;
(7)
investments in climate resilience and health infrastructure should include support for—
(A)
workforce training, job quality standards, and equitable access to careers in public health;
(B)
emergency preparedness and energy and environmental response, particularly for workers from historically underserved communities; and
(C)
community-led mental wellness and resilience building initiatives and mutual aid networks;
(8)
relevant Federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, should ensure community-based organizations, Tribal governments, and environmental justice groups are meaningfully engaged in climate-health decision-making processes, and are provided with the resources and authority necessary to lead and support local resilience efforts, including public health preparedness, infrastructure adaptation, emergency response planning, support for psychological and emotional well-being, and efforts to address climate-related health disparities;
(9)
the Department of Labor, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, should promulgate a worker heat protection standard that, in accordance with the best available evidence, establishes the maximum protective program of measures an employer shall implement to regulate employees’ exposure to heat stress and prevent heat-related illness and injury that attains the highest degree of health and safety protection to the extent feasible; and
(10)
the Department of Health and Human Services and other relevant Federal agencies should provide annual progress reports to Congress and the public on climate resilience investments, measurable health outcomes, and equitable distribution of resources to vulnerable populations and regions.