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Attachment A
<br />(1) temperature-related deaths and illnesses;
<br />(2) air quality impacts;
<br />(3) extreme weather events;
<br />(4) numbers of vector-borne diseases;
<br />(5) waterborne illnesses;
<br />(6) food safety, nutrition, and distribution complications;
<br />(7) mental health and well-being concerns; and
<br />Whereas, the consequences of climate change already disproportionately impact frontline communities
<br />and endanger populations made especially vulnerable by existing exposure to extreme weather events,
<br />such as children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing disabilities and health conditions; and
<br />Whereas, individuals and families on the frontlines of climate change across the United States, including
<br />territories, living with income inequality and poverty, institutional racism, inequity on the basis of gender
<br />and sexual orientation, poor infrastructure, and lack of access to health care, housing, clean water, and
<br />food security are often in close proximity to environmental stressors or sources of pollution, particularly
<br />communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities, which—
<br />(1) experience outsized risk because of the close proximity of the community to environmental
<br />hazards and stressors, in addition to collocation with waste and other sources of pollution;
<br />(2) are often the first exposed to the impacts of climate change;
<br />(3) have the fewest resources to mitigate those impacts or to relocate, which will exacerbate
<br />preexisting challenges; and
<br />Whereas, according to Dr. Robert Bullard and Dr. Beverly Wright, “environmental and public health
<br />threats from natural and human-made disasters are not randomly distributed,” therefore a response to
<br />the climate emergency necessitates the adoption of just community transition policies and processes
<br />available to all communities, which include policies and processes rooted in principles of racial equity,
<br />self-determination, and democracy, as well as the fundamental human right of all people to clean air and
<br />water, healthy food, adequate land, education, and shelter; and
<br />Whereas, communities in rural, urban, and suburban areas are all dramatically affected by climate change,
<br />though the specific economic, health, social, and environmental impacts may be different; and
<br />Whereas, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community have
<br />identified climate change as a threat to national security, and the Department of Homeland Security views
<br />climate change as a top homeland security risk; and
<br />Whereas, climate change is a threat multiplier—
<br />(1) with the potential to exacerbate many of the challenges the United States already confronts,
<br />including conflicts over scarce resources, conditions conducive to violent extremism, and the
<br />spread of infectious diseases;
<br />(2) because climate change has the potential to produce new, unforeseeable challenges in the future;
<br />and
<br />Whereas, in 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected that the
<br />Earth could warm 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels as early as 2030; and
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