Climate Advocates’ Monthly, Edition IV
16 June 25
We are publishing early to get the word out on some key events/dates! The biggie - great work from some of our Non-Profit colleagues - is the 25 June webinar on health and climate – featured below. Please take an hour out of one evening to learn from the experts who volunteered their time and effort.
I. Upcoming Events
- 20-22 June: Southern Colorado Juneteenth Celebration/Citadel Mall: a great “wear your shirt” occasion and support civil rights and climate justice for all – and remind others that unity in such things brings progress.
- Saturday, 21 June: The Climate Table & canopy will be at the Colorado Farm and Art Market at The Margarita at Pine Creek from 10:00-2:00.
- Sunday, 22 June: The Climate Table & canopy will be at the Litha Festival at Bancroft Park in Old Colorado City from 1100-4:00
- Wednesday, 25 June: Citizens Climate Lobby/Education and Healthy Air & Water Colorado have arranged an excellent panel (leading regional physicians) on health and extreme heat.
It’s not in your imagination – Colorado is becoming significantly warmer:
Over the last five years, multiple Colorado cities and towns broke heat records, including Colorado Springs with 52 days over 90 degrees in 2020, Pueblo with 99 days over 90 degrees in 2020, and Grand Junction with 94 days over 90 degrees in 2024.
In 2023 the US had a record number of heat-related deaths – 2,300 people lost their lives, and this is likely an undercount.
Risk factors:
While everyone is at risk, high heat is particularly dangerous for the elderly, pregnant women and fetuses, children, and persons with underlying medical conditions, especially those with no access to air conditioning or other means of staying cool.
In this webinar, we’ll discuss:
The health risks of high heat for various groups and activities, plus signs and symptoms of heat stress and other heat-related conditions.
How heat affects cardiac, brain, kidney, and other organ functions, and impacts mental health.
Ways health care professionals, individuals, and communities can help build resilience against the health effects of high temperatures.
The importance for health care providers, policy makers and the general public in the face of projections for increasing extreme heat related to climate change.
Hear from a panel of physicians trained on effects of extreme heat on human health:
Dr. Joanne Leovy, Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action
Dr. Logan Harper, Healthy Air and Water Colorado
Drs. Lori and Rob Byron, Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate and Citizens’ Climate Lobby Health Action Team
Joanne Leovy, MD, FAAFP is a family physician with over 30 years of broad-spectrum primary care practice experience. A graduate of University of Washington School of Medicine, she completed family medicine residency at University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Diploma in Climate Medicine from University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine in 2024. As Chair of Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action, she works in coalition to educate and advocate for measures to reduce climate change impacts to health. She is a member of the Southern Nevada Extreme Heat Working Group and a federal Disaster Medical Assistance team. She is also the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Nevada state co-coordinator, Las Vegas chapter leader, and liaison.
Logan Harper, MD, is a family physician and Climate and Health Policy Fellow at the University of Colorado. As part of his fellowship, he served as a guest researcher with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contributing to national efforts to strengthen clinical and community responses to extreme heat. Dr. Harper is a passionate advocate for climate-smart health policy and has partnered with Healthy Air and Water Colorado, along with several national organizations, to promote policies and initiatives that protect communities from the health impacts of climate change.
Robert and Lori Byron are both physicians who worked on the Crow Indian Reservation for over 20 years each. Robert, a former Governor of Montana Chapter of the American College of Physicians, served on the Montana Board of Environmental Review and is a chapter co-author on the National Climate Assessment 5. He serves on the executive committee of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health.
Lori, a former President of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, works part time as a Pediatric Hospitalist at St. Vincent’s Healthcare. She recently received a MS in Energy Policy and Climate through Johns Hopkins University. Lori served on the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee to the EPA and the AAP’s Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change.
They are both authors on Montana’s Climate Change and Human Health report 2021, and co-chair of the Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate and the Citizens Climate Lobby Health Action Team.
II. Worth a Look:
Climate Change In Colorado - What Is Climate Change?
- The above link from 350 Colorado provides what many visitors to the climate table ask: Is there a place where climate change and its consequences are clearly summarized? Thank you 350 Colorado!
- “What if We Get it Right?” By Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. This fabulous book includes her expert take on the climate crisis and includes a series of interviews with several leading climate scientists. Ask your favorite library if it’s in their collection, buy a copy, and/or check out one of her interviews on YouTube.
III. Contributions (achievements or experiences, new connections or partnerships).
- On 21 May, 350 Colorado, The local Sierra Club, and Poor Richards Downtown hosted a collaborative meeting with local environmentally and climate-focused non-profits (plus Colorado Climate Advocates) to look at how to increase our impact by working more closely together. Stay tuned for increased synergy as we work to build a climate community.
350 Colorado: 350 Colorado
Food to Power: Food to Power
Wild Connections: wildconnections.org
Richards Rubbish Roundup: richardsrubbishroundup | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Pikes Peak Permaculture:
Fountain Creek Watershed: Fountain Creek Watershed District
Colorado Climate Advocates: Colorado Climate Advocates
Manitou Springs Garden Club: Manitou Springs Garden Club – The best little garden club on the west side of Colorado Springs!
- One of the 10 “Fight Climate Change Not Each Other” shirts that made it to the Northwest coast of France! Retired French engineer Alain Bernard in front of his summer cottage.
- Congratulations! to Richard Skorman and Poor Richards Downtown on their 50th Anniversary and continued support for a healthy Colorado Springs Environment. Thank you for hosting the climate table alongside Richards Rubbish Roundup – we both gained adherents and made great connections!
Thank you for subscribing! New subscribers please see the newsletter vision on the March post, videos/news page of coclimateadvocate.com