It’s the first day of summer and already the DC metro area is nearing a record high, but what else is new? Sadly these increasing record highs could prove fatal for many in the area in the years to come.

According to a report released by the NRDC and based on a study in the American Meteorological Society journal, 2,900 Baltimoreans and 3,000 Washingtonians will die prematurely from heat exhaustion due to global warming in the next century.

 

As Attorney General Eric Holder noted, “the burden of environmental degradation still falls disproportionately on low- income communities and communities of color, and most often on their youngest residents.” The effects of climate change are no different, as Martin Luther King III explained:

“The [Congressional Black Caucus Foundation] report concluded that ‘African Americans will disproportionately bear the substantial public health burden caused by climate change.’ According to the report, African Americans are nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized or killed by asthma as others, with climate change expected to worsen air pollution and increase the incidence of asthma for our children.”

Solving our climate crisis is a moral issue and that’s why a coalition of Prince George’s clergy members spoke out this past legislative session in favor of Maryland developing one of its most promising climate solutions: offshore wind power.

According to an analysis by Dr. Jonathan Levy of the Boston University School of Public Health, the 2012 offshore wind bill that passed the Maryland House of Delegates and fell one vote short on the Senate Finance Committee would have prevented 220 premature deaths linked with fossil fuel pollution and saved over $1 billion over 20 years. This analysis does not take into account the benefits of reducing asthma attacks linked with fossil fuel pollution or the benefits of reducing global warming pollution.

If you live in Maryland, please take a moment to thank Governor O’Malley for his clean energy leadership and encourage him to make sure the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan is strong enough to meet the challenge.

Stay tuned as the fight for offshore wind and a clean energy future for Maryland continues! With your help we will make sure Maryland leads and shows that climate change solutions work for our health and our economy.