A resolution recognizing that climate change poses a growing threat to public health and necessitates coordinated action to mitigate its impacts and safeguard the health and well-being of all people in the United States.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 318 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 318

Recognizing that climate change poses a growing threat to public health 
    and necessitates coordinated action to mitigate its impacts and 
safeguard the health and well-being of all people in the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2025

  Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Van 
 Hollen, and Mr. Booker) submitted the following resolution; which was 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing that climate change poses a growing threat to public health 
    and necessitates coordinated action to mitigate its impacts and 
safeguard the health and well-being of all people in the United States.

Whereas climate change is the most significant threat to human health in the 
        21st century, as affirmed by a broad scientific consensus, including 
        more than 200 medical journals;
Whereas climate change is driving illness, injury, displacement, and death 
        across the United States, including--

    (1) by worsening respiratory and allergy-related illnesses and 
contributing to an increase in cancer risks through climate change fueled-
increases in air pollution, longer pollen seasons, and increased exposure 
to wildfire smoke, ground-level ozone, and fine particulate matter that 
threaten the health of over 150,000,000 people in the United States living 
in areas with unhealthy air;

    (2) by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, 
and strokes, often worsened by extreme heat waves;

    (3) by increasing direct and indirect behavioral and mental health 
complications, including pre-disaster anxiety, post-traumatic stress 
disorder, depression, substance use disorder, domestic violence, and 
suicidality, linked to climate-driven disasters with children, pregnant 
individuals, people living in high-risk zones, communities of color, and 
low-income communities bearing the brunt of long-term psychological and 
emotional harm;

    (4) by disproportionately increasing the rates of homelessness and 
displacement among infants and young children, who face the highest risk of 
homelessness from climate disasters when living in substandard housing or 
high-risk zones;

    (5) by increasing the prevalence of food-, insect-, and water-borne 
diseases, as climate change expands the range and seasonality of vectors, 
while flooding and warming accelerate microbial contamination of food and 
drinking water;

    (6) by increasing water-borne pathogens, which already cause over 
7,000,000 illnesses, 118,000 hospitalizations, and 6,600 deaths annually in 
the United States, a burden that is expected to rise as climate-driven 
extreme weather and warming destabilize water and sanitation systems;

    (7) by heightening the risk of pregnancy-related complications, 
including still birth and preterm birth, which studies show can increase by 
1 to 2 percent for each additional day of extreme heat exposure and 
mounting death and disability resulting from extreme weather events that 
continue to displace and endanger millions of people in the United States 
annually; and

    (8) by increasing the prevalence of extreme weather events, which cause 
death and injuries and displace and endanger millions of people in the 
United States annually;

Whereas people with disabilities are 2 to 4 times more likely to die or be 
        injured during climate-related disasters, including heatwaves, 
        hurricanes, and floods, due to evacuation barriers, medical equipment 
        failures, and lack of accessible emergency infrastructure;
Whereas historically underserved communities, including post-industrial regions, 
        rural areas, Tribal nations, low-income and working-class neighborhoods, 
        communities of color, and people with disabilities and pre-existing 
        comorbidities, face disproportionate health risks from climate hazards, 
        such as extreme heat, severe storms, drought, and air and water 
        pollution, often due to decades of systemic underinvestment and 
        environmental injustice;
Whereas workers, including those in agriculture, construction, delivery, 
        manufacturing, and warehouse settings, face growing health and safety 
        risks from climate change-related hazards, such as extreme heat, poor 
        air quality, and extreme weather, and require stronger protections, 
        standards, and workplace rights to safeguard their well-being;
Whereas climate change costs the United States economy billions of dollars a 
        year through its wide-ranging harms, including property damage, lost 
        labor productivity, and increased rates of climate-related illness and 
        mental health issues that strain the health care system of the United 
        States;
Whereas, in 2024 alone, the United States experienced 27 separate billion-dollar 
        climate disasters, each compounding both financial and public health 
        burdens on the people of the United States;
Whereas resilient health care organizations that are equipped to remain 
        operational during disasters are essential to their communities' health, 
        safety, recovery, and well-being;
Whereas the health care sector is responsible for approximately 8.5 percent of 
        carbon emissions in the United States, exacerbating the climate crisis 
        and health-related emergencies;
Whereas many emergency preparedness investments, such as improving energy 
        efficiency, upgrading infrastructure, and installing onsite renewable 
        energy and battery storage systems, bring health and sustainability 
        benefits and yield significant operational savings for health care 
        organizations;
Whereas health care organizations, providers, and frontline health workers 
        require sustained Federal support, clear climate adaptation guidance 
        that addresses both physical infrastructure and psychological 
        resilience, and reliable, consistently accessible, and locally relevant 
        data in order to assess local climate risks, identify strengths, 
        resources, support networks, and other key protective factors, prepare 
        for and respond to climate change-related health threats, equitably 
        serve at-risk populations and patients, and expand access and 
        protections for temporarily and permanently displaced populations 
        following a disaster;
Whereas frontline health care workers and providers, particularly those in 
        underserved and resource-limited settings, face increased physical, 
        mental, and psychosocial health risks from climate change-related 
        events, including extreme heat, poor air quality, infectious disease 
        outbreaks, and disaster response demands, and must be equipped with the 
        training, protections, and support necessary to continue delivering safe 
        and equitable care; and
Whereas delivering such support and guidance requires collaboration and 
        coordination across the public health, data infrastructure, health 
        insurance, quality improvement, workforce development, environmental 
        health, and emergency preparedness and response functions across the 
        Department of Health and Human Services and relevant Federal agencies: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the Department of Health and Human Services should use 
        all practicable means and measures to increase the health 
        sector's climate readiness and response, including increasing 
        the ability to withstand and maintain operations during extreme 
        weather events, strengthening the climate resilience of health 
        infrastructure and supply chains, and lowering the sector's 
        environmental impact;
            (2) funding appropriated by Congress to facilitate energy 
        efficiency retrofits, investments in clean vehicles and onsite 
        renewable energy and storage, and planning for climate 
        resilience projects by health care organizations and community-
        based organizations should be distributed without delay and 
        with particular attention to historically underserved 
        communities and organizations by the responsible Federal 
        agencies;
            (3) the Department of Health and Human Services should 
        prioritize technical assistance, capacity building, and 
        equitable access to funding for Tribal health systems, rural 
        hospitals and clinics, and historically underresourced health 
        care providers to support climate adaptation and preparedness;
            (4) Federal agencies with responsibilities for public 
        health, health care, and environmental data, including the 
        Department of Health and Human Services, should orchestrate and 
        support efforts to close information gaps and synthesize data 
        on the health impacts of climate change, including mitigation 
        and adaptation strategies, and use that information to develop 
        timely, targeted, accessible, and evidence-based education and 
        communication tools on climate-related health threats;
            (5) the Department of Health and Human Services should 
        fully reinstate the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity 
        and the Office of Environmental Justice with the staffing and 
        resources necessary to lead and coordinate departmental 
        efforts, guide equitable implementation, and use all available 
        levers to address the health impacts of climate change for all 
        people in the United States, and particularly for those most at 
        risk;
            (6) critical agencies, staff, and programmatic functions 
        necessary to support the goal of reducing the health impacts of 
        climate change should be fully funded, reinstated, and 
        supported, including--
                    (A) those within the Administration for Children 
                and Families;
                    (B) the Administration for Strategic Preparedness 
                and Response;
                    (C) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality;
                    (D) the Indian Health Service;
                    (E) those within the Centers for Disease Control 
                and Prevention, such as the National Center for 
                Environmental Health, the Agency for Toxic Substances 
                and Disease Registry, and the National Institute for 
                Occupational Safety and Health; and
                    (F) those within the National Institutes of Health, 
                including the Climate Change and Health Initiative;
            (7) investments in climate resilience and health 
        infrastructure should include support for--
                    (A) workforce training, job quality standards, and 
                equitable access to careers in public health;
                    (B) emergency preparedness and energy and 
                environmental response, particularly for workers from 
                historically underserved communities; and
                    (C) community-led mental wellness and resilience 
                building initiatives and mutual aid networks;
            (8) relevant Federal agencies, including the Department of 
        Health and Human Services, should ensure community-based 
        organizations, Tribal governments, and environmental justice 
        groups are meaningfully engaged in climate-health decision-
        making processes, and are provided with the resources and 
        authority necessary to lead and support local resilience 
        efforts, including public health preparedness, infrastructure 
        adaptation, emergency response planning, support for 
        psychological and emotional well-being, and efforts to address 
        climate-related health disparities;
            (9) the Department of Labor, through the Occupational 
        Safety and Health Administration, should promulgate a worker 
        heat protection standard that, in accordance with the best 
        available evidence, establishes the maximum protective program 
        of measures an employer shall implement to regulate employees' 
        exposure to heat stress and prevent heat-related illness and 
        injury that attains the highest degree of health and safety 
        protection to the extent feasible; and
            (10) the Department of Health and Human Services and other 
        relevant Federal agencies should provide annual progress 
        reports to Congress and the public on climate resilience 
        investments, measurable health outcomes, and equitable 
        distribution of resources to vulnerable populations and 
        regions.
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