Open AccessPublic Health and Climate Change Adaptation at the Federal Level: One Agency’s Response to Executive Order 13514
Author(s) -
Jeremy Hess,
Paul Schramm,
George Luber
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2013.301796
Subject(s) - executive order , agency (philosophy) , climate change , human services , adaptation (eye) , public health , climate change adaptation , political science , business , public administration , environmental resource management , public relations , environmental health , medicine , psychology , sociology , nursing , economics , ecology , social science , neuroscience , law , biology
Climate change will likely have adverse human health effects that require federal agency involvement in adaptation activities. In 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. The order required federal agencies to develop and implement climate change adaptation plans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of a larger Department of Health and Human Services response to climate change, is developing such plans. We provide background on Executive Orders, outline tenets of climate change adaptation, discuss public health adaptation planning at both the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC, and outline possible future CDC efforts. We also consider how these activities may be better integrated with other adaptation activities that manage emerging health threats posed by climate change.