Howard Frumkin
howardfrumkin.bsky.social
Howard Frumkin
@howardfrumkin.bsky.social

I'm a physician & epidemiologist focused on environmental health. I study how planetary changes such as climate change, the natural world, and the built environment affect our health and well-being, and how to protect both the planet and ourselves .. more

Environmental science 38%
Public Health 13%

Reposted by Howard Frumkin

This impressive and sobering analysis documents (conservatively) the dreadful human impacts of rolling back environmental regulations. Congratulations to the AP team.

Speak up for protecting our health and our environment!

apnews.com/article/epa-...
Trump EPA rollbacks would weaken rules projected to save billions of dollars and thousands of lives
When the head of the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year announced a massive rollback of environmental regulations, he said it would spark a “Golden Age” for the American economy.
apnews.com

The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future, released 10 days ago, now has almost 1000 signers. It's a visionary call for a "new chemistry for sustainability" that will protect people, prosperity, and the planet. I signed. Will you?

www.stockholm-declaration.org
Home | Stockholm Declaration
www.stockholm-declaration.org

Beautiful essay by @dralicechen.bsky.social and @drvivekmurthy.bsky.social.

"Societies ... require people who are willing to speak up boldly and unapologetically for the dignity and well-being of others. Physicians have the power to be these people."

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
The Power of Physicians in Dangerous Times | NEJM
The current crisis in the United States is bigger than politics, and it deeply affects the health and lives of our patients and communities. Now is the time for physicians to harness their power an...
www.nejm.org

There’s nobody with whom I’d rather build community than you Ed! Thanks for a great ride @maibached.bsky.social

This report documents further devastation of climate and health research at NIH. Among other responses, we need to be planning to restart such critical research once this madness ends--as it will.

@docsforclimate.bsky.social @ecoamerica.bsky.social @apha.org

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: documents reveal how NIH will axe climate studies
US agency guidelines nix funding for studies on climate anxiety and more but allow it for those on extreme weather and health.
www.nature.com

Glad to share this short paper, just published, describing work at the National Academy of Medicine to promote broad system change (beyond the health sector) to confront climate change.

@thirdactorg.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @maibached.bsky.social

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Charting a path to health for all at net-zero emissions
Climate change is the defining health challenge of the 21st century, with record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events already exacting an unprecedented toll on human health and wellbeing. ...
www.thelancet.com

Compelling article making the scientific case for legal liability of major fossil fuel companies.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Carbon majors and the scientific case for climate liability - Nature
A transparent and reproducible scientific framework is introduced to formalize how trillions in economic losses are attributable to the extreme heat caused by emissions from fossil fuel companies, whi...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Howard Frumkin

What did scientists (who care deeply about leaving a livable world to our children & grandchildren) do when a cheap political stunt derailed their efforts to help? They built a workaround. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/o... @howardfrumkin.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @mason4c.bsky.social
Opinion | We Found a Work Around to Trump Defunding Science
When knowledge is threatened, don’t just mourn it. Build around it.
www.nytimes.com

What a treat to hear the great Rita Colwell recount the story of Vibrio, human health, and climate here at UW School of Public Health.

I never imagined a world in which, when an HHS Secretary states that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles, it counts as news. A bit like NASA confirming the theory of gravity.

www.statnews.com/2025/04/06/r...

Did they not think they were going to get what they worked so hard to get?

Back atcha Phoebe! Hope our paths cross soon in real life.

Looking forward to joining Hannah Murphy Winter of @thestranger.com, Mickey Fearn, Ashley Townes, and Joycelyn Chui for a wonderful Earth Day event at @townhallseattle.bsky.social. We'll be talking about climate equity, park equity, health equity, and the connections among them.

An incisive commentary about a gut-wrenching moment in US history.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
It Was an Ambush
Today marked one of the grimmest days in the history of American diplomacy.
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Howard Frumkin

Shutting down existing EV charging hardware, which has already been paid for, is the definition of government waste.

But I don't hear DOGE doing anything about this… 🙄

electrek.co/2025/02/21/t...
Trump to shut down all 8,000 EV charging ports at federal govt buildings
The Trump administration is shutting down all federal government buildings' EV chargers and expected to sell off the GSA's newly bought EVs.
electrek.co

Had the honor and pleasure of coffee with the phenomenal @govjayinslee.bsky.social today. We talked about standing with science, communicating the climate crisis, resisting the abuses and lies of the administration. Then we both biked home!
@docsforclimate.bsky.social @thirdactorg.bsky.social

Thank you Georg. Maybe just a temporary glitch here. One hopes!

Wow. The PubMed site is down. Is this just a temporary glitch or have they killed it too?

When @govjayinslee.bsky.social lends his support, you know you're doing something right!
In the best tradition of Copernicus and Galileo, our courageous scientists are enlightening the public about our environment, undaunted by Trump’s attempted suppression. Courage is contagious.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com

Thank you Governor Inslee. The courage and leadership you've shown throughout your career are inspiring. Stay tuned as we deliver a rigorous, timely, and much-needed report on America's nature to the nation.

Reposted by Howard Frumkin

In the best tradition of Copernicus and Galileo, our courageous scientists are enlightening the public about our environment, undaunted by Trump’s attempted suppression. Courage is contagious.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com

But the NNA was driven almost entirely by volunteer effort--over 150 experts from academia, civil society, and the private sector. It has strong momentum. It WILL move forward.

If you have something of great value, but you haven't fully tallied its value, and you haven't taken stock of where it is or how it delivers value, and you haven't assessed the trends affecting it...then you can't properly care for it. That's why we need the NNA.

The irony is that Americans across the political spectrum love and value our natural heritage. Ecosystem services are invaluable to both red and blue places. Outdoor recreation is an economic powerhouse "from sea to shining sea." There was no rational political reason for killing the NNA.
As I shared last week, the US's first National Nature Assessment has been shut down: but the authors, led by @phillevin.bsky.social, are determined to continue. Read more: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/c...
Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway. (Gift Article)
The first full draft of the assessment, on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife, was weeks from completion. The project leader called the study “too important to die.”
www.nytimes.com