To our knowledge, this is the only coalition of health organizations across the country working explicitly to address the role of the fossil fuel industry in obstructing action on climate change and fossil fuel pollution.

We believe that speaking about climate change and air pollution without naming the dominant root cause – fossil fuels and the fossil fuel industry – is akin to speaking out on lung cancer without ever mentioning cigarette smoking or speaking about the opioid epidemic without mentioning the role of pharmaceutical corporate practices.

We hope that the work of this coalition will spotlight the unacceptable global health and climate harms of ongoing fossil fuel use

As climate-health advocacy groups, we’re often in a reactive position – responding to deadlines for comments or protesting permits that have been issued. We believe that there’s a better way – that a proactive approach can create more substantial, strategic, and lasting change. Our coalition worked through consensus decisionmaking to map out a plan for how the health community can come together to fight back against the racial, environmental, and health injustices being perpetrated by the fossil fuel industry. As the Fossil Free for Health Coalition, we developed the following list of strategies:

• Educate: Educate health professionals on the health harms of fossil fuels. Conduct and share research that quantifies both harms of existing and proposed infrastructure and evaluates the benefits of clean energy or benefits of shutting down fossil fuel plants. Educate the public and lawmakers on health harms of ongoing fossil fuel use

• Communicate: Design an evidence-based public health messaging counter-marketing campaign that tells the truth about fossil fuels in order to shift public perception and health community perception of fossil fuels and build support for policies to protect health in the era of climate change.

• Advocate: Recruit and train health professionals who can advocate for policies that center health equity and energy justice.

We’d also like this to be a place where new connections are forged, where we get to hear about the work that our individual member organizations are currently doing, opportunities for collaboration and engagement, a space to share best practices, and a place for emotional support. Other ideas welcome!!

At this time, we are geographically limited to the U.S., as this is where our current members are from. We are open to expanding further based on interest and capacity.

In August 2021, Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate organized a national day of action against the tar sands oil pipeline, Enbridge Line 3 (now Line 63) that was being built through the state of Minnesota. Health professionals from 12 states came together that day to demand President Biden halt Line 3 construction. Dr. Brenna Doheny gave this call to action with the hashtag #FossilFree4Health.

Unfortunately, despite fierce resistance from Indigenous water protectors, youth climate activists, health professionals, scientists, and Minnesotans across the state, Line 3/63 construction was completed in October 2021. We quickly realized that not just in Minnesota, but across the country, communities were fighting fossil fuel infrastructure to protect their health and the health of their families. Thus, came together our coalition!

Our current projects include:

1. Creating a policy document that sets out a comprehensive roadmap for policies to address the disinformation of the fossil fuel industry, hold the industry accountable for its harms, phase out fossil fuel extraction and use, implement a rapid and just transition to a clean energy economy, and protect people and communities from the harms of fossil fuels and climate change.

2. Developing and funding public health counter-marketing campaign directed against the fossil fuel industry.