It's electric! An environmental equity perspective on the lifecycle of our energy sources.
It's electric! An environmental equity perspective on the lifecycle of our energy sources.
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DOI：
10.1097/ee9.0000000000000246
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发表时间：
2023-04
影响因子：
3.6
通讯作者：
Casey, Joan A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Willis, Mary D.;Cushing, Lara J.;Buonocore, Jonathan J.;Deziel, Nicole C.;Casey, Joan A.
能源政策决策主要由经济和可靠性考虑驱动，对公共卫生、环境正义和气候变化的考虑有限。此外，与公共政策相关的流行病学研究通常侧重于与能源采购和发电相关的活动对公共卫生的直接影响，较少考虑健康公平或能源引起的气候变化的长期健康后果。对这三个领域进行更加综合、集体的考虑可以为政策制定者、社区和个人提供更强有力的指导。在这里，我们说明如何针对天然气作为能源来评估这些领域。我们的流程首先详细概述了天然气开采、生产和消费过程中的所有相关步骤。我们综合了现有的流行病学和补充证据，说明这些过程如何影响公共卫生、环境正义和气候变化。我们的结论是，在某些领域，天然气看起来是有益的（例如，对某些领域来说，在经济上），但当从更广泛的角度考虑时，通过天然气的生命周期以及公共卫生、环境正义和气候变化的共同视角，天然气在美国被视为不受欢迎的能源。整体的气候健康公平框架可以告诉我们如何重视和部署不同的能源来服务公共卫生。
Energy policy decisions are driven primarily by economic and reliability considerations, with limited consideration given to public health, environmental justice, and climate change. Moreover, epidemiologic studies relevant for public policy typically focus on immediate public health implications of activities related to energy procurement and generation, considering less so health equity or the longer-term health consequences of climate change attributable to an energy source. A more integrated, collective consideration of these three domains can provide more robust guidance to policymakers, communities, and individuals. Here, we illustrate how these domains can be evaluated with respect to natural gas as an energy source. Our process began with a detailed overview of all relevant steps in the process of extracting, producing, and consuming natural gas. We synthesized existing epidemiologic and complementary evidence of how these processes impact public health, environmental justice, and climate change. We conclude that, in certain domains, natural gas looks beneficial (e.g., economically for some), but when considered more expansively, through the life cycle of natural gas and joint lenses of public health, environmental justice, and climate change, natural gas is rendered an undesirable energy source in the United States. A holistic climate health equity framework can inform how we value and deploy different energy sources in the service of public health.