Statement attributed to:

Jack Resneck Jr, MD

President, American Medical Association

“The American Medical Association is deeply disappointed with today’s U.S. Supreme Court opinion restricting the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the carbon emissions that cause climate change and harm public health.

“Regulating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical for combating the climate crisis and its major health implications, impacting the respiratory, cardiovascular, and immune systems of the U.S. population, with minoritized populations disproportionately impacted. The AMA has declared climate change a public health crisis that threatens the health and well-being of all people and supports policies that reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions aimed at carbon neutrality by 2050.

“As physicians and leaders in medicine, we recognize the urgency of supporting environmental sustainability efforts to help halt global climate change and the devastating health harms that it is sure to bring. Despite this ruling, we will continue to do our part to protect public health and improve health outcomes for our patients across the nation.”

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Editor’s note: The AMA has long advocated for upholding the Clean Power Plan through friend-of-the-court briefs (PDF) in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, most recently filing an amicus brief (PDF) with the American Thoracic Society and dozens of leading medical organizations and public health leaders in February 2022. Read more about the AMA’s ongoing efforts to help curb the climate change crisis:

AMA adopts new policy declaring climate change a public health crisis – June 2022

Doctors demand presidential action on climate change – Jan. 2020