Evizda

The Green New Deal is also a Public Health New Deal—and should be supported for that—physician and progressive activist Abdul El-Sayed argues in a op-ed published Friday in The Guardian.

El-Sayed garnered national attention last year for his ultimately unsuccessful run for governor in Michigan’s Democratic primary. But before that, he served as Detroit’s health director—and through that role, he writes, “I realized that the forces that cause climate change are the same forces that poisoned the lungs of babies in my city.”

The doctor details his journey from a “reluctant” to “full-fledged environmental activist,” spurred by his obligation to “provide basic public health goods and services for 700,000 people in a city that had been marginalized by almost every level of government intended to serve them.” He demands bold action to better serve communities like his and address the root causes of the global climate crisis.

“The Green New Deal recognizes that the challenges of stopping climate change and providing low-income kids what they need to thrive are not mutually exclusive—rather they are mutually inclusive,” writes El-Sayed. “As a public health doctor, I know that by eliminating the local consequences of fossil fuel emissions, and lifting whole communities out of poverty, the Green New Deal will also be a Public Health New Deal.”

The youth-led Sunrise Movement, which is spearheading the grassroots push for the Green New Deal, praised El-Sayed’s piece as “powerful” on Twitter.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Green New Deal resolution currently before Congress in February, with support from dozens of other Democrats. The intentionally broad measure calls for transitioning the U.S. energy system to 100 percent renewable sources over a decade—in line with the timeline scientists say is necessary—and creating millions of green jobs.