Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Seed Global Health.
Dr. Vanessa Kerry (second from left) speaks at the Foreign Policy event at the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May 2025. Under her leadership, Seed Global Health has helped educate more than 45,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives in seven countries.

We humans are inconsistent critters. Today we’re panicking that the latest stupid war is messing up our oil markets (and I get it: we still need oil), but we seem to downplay just how bad oil really is for us.

At the environmental radio show Living on Earth, we learn what fossil fuels are actually doing to our health.

“The burning of fossil fuels is linked to some 300,000 deaths in America every year, not to mention the related carbon emissions that promote global warming. Dr. Vanessa Kerry directs Global Health and Climate Policy and teaches at the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health. She is also the World Health Organization Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health and joins host Steve Curwood to discuss the major health costs and lost opportunities linked to pollution.

Steve Curwood
“There’s been a shift in messaging from environmental groups regarding the impact of air pollution on environmental health. Discuss what that means in terms of the effectiveness of helping people understand the impact of the environment on their daily lives.

Vanessa Kerry
“There’s a group that calls [climate change] the greatest hoax of our time, and there are others that are really trying to think strategically about what is happening on this earth in ways that aren’t just degrees Celsius. Health has been a really important piece — how extreme heat puts you at risk of flaring your diabetes or your lung disease or your heart disease. …

“But I think there’s another step that we can also take to help people really understand what we’re up against in climate change, which is that these health impacts that we’re seeing cost us money, because if you are too sick to go to work, or you can’t breathe, or your child has an asthma attack, and you can’t go to work because you’re taking them to hospital, that’s lost income. We know, for example, that the United States is losing 100 billion in productivity from extreme heat already now, and that’s supposed to go to 500 billion in the next 20 years. So these, it’s very real. And I think for those that can’t even think about health, understanding the economic bottom line and how it affects your pocket is something that I think is universally related and understood and very real.

Curwood
“If it’s that much of a health danger, climate change is almost an aside. …

Kerry
“Without question, the burning of fossil fuels is driving our risk through multiple pathways. Particulate matter is co-emitted with the greenhouse gasses and … not only do you breathe it in and can it cause issues in your lungs, but actually particulate matter can cross into your bloodstream, lead to increased risk of heart attacks, worsen your blood pressure, increased risk of strokes, cause all sorts of other problems. …

“Beyond the direct impacts of fossil fuels, people who are paying out of pocket for catastrophic health costs related to this are therefore losing access to nutrition, ability to send their children to school, access to other resources. … We know that we’re going to see upwards, you know, 44 million people are going to fall into poverty from the health impacts of climate change alone, according to the World Bank, in the next 20 years.

Curwood
“If air pollution has such a tremendous impact on us, health-wise and economically as well, why aren’t we talking about this more in America?

Kerry
“The Harvard School of Public Health and Department of Environmental Health is actually looking at that exact question. … And there’s lots of data out there that tells us that investments in health actually have higher returns.

Curwood
“To what extent are the massive impacts of air pollution on public health part of the reason that we have such a huge economic divide in this country? …

Kerry
“When you look at who lives in urban cities, in heat deserts, where it can be absolutely crippling to live in high heat, it’s often people of color or people in poverty. And so there’s a massive divide that is happening where we are exacerbating inequity, not just in the United States, but globally. …

Curwood
“The Heritage Foundation in Washington claims that climate change alarmism (quote, unquote) is discouraging families from having children. …

Kerry
“It’s really actually the perpetuation of misinformation. … How we communicate a conversation which is fact-based, scientific, ground in truth … is a really critical question.”

More at Living on Earth, here. And whiled we’re on the subjec t, I want to be sure everyone knows about the heeroes of Cancer Alley in Louisiana, who just dont’ care if fighting the Power is impaossible, They do it and succeed. (Click here.)