Oral

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert the most serious consequences of climate change will require enormous policy changes in the areas of energy, transportation, community design, and agriculture. These policy changes, which will include changes in fuels, promoting non-motorized and public modes of transportation, and altered uses of land, will in turn have enormous implications for public health. The world has already seen impacts of rising food prices resulting from promotion of biofuels, done at least in part for climate reasons. Optimizing choices for climate policy should include analysis and optimization of their attendant public health impacts. For example, increasing access to public transit and expanding walking and bicycling facilities to reduce private automobile use can greatly increase physical activity and reduce exposures to motor-vehicle related air pollution. Conversely, using farmland for automobile fuel rather than food may have negative consequences for food security for some populations, both in the US and especially in poorer countries. This session will explore methods and preliminary findings of analyses of the ancillary public health benefits and potential harms of climate mitigation strategies.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify major co-benefits and harms associated with climate change mitigation strategies 2. Discuss local examples of greenhouse gas reduction strategies with health benefits 3. Discuss potential tradeoffs between climate and public health goals and ways to optimize them