Gina McCarthy rolls the global warming public health dice

Administrator Gina McCarthy rolls the
public health dice on global warming.

After sounding the alarm about the threats to America's homes and cities and national defense from climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is rolling out one last argument to act on global warming: our health.

With eight months left in the Obama administration, Administrator Gina McCarthy has added more health schools, more historically black universities and more organizations like the National Hispanic Medical Association to her travel itineraries.

She's appealed to doctors, nurses and health workers to think not just about prescriptions but also pollution; she's urging students in medical school and schools of public health to consider joining the EPA; she's focusing on the poor, black and Latino communities historically most affected by air pollution; and in so doing, she's recasting the image of climate action from an effort often associated with activists and hugging trees, to one of medical necessity and environmental justice.

U.S. News recently talked with McCarthy about this new focus on the health implications of climate change.

Read U.S. News story -“A New Focus on Health.”