Email your MP - and ask them to protect health from coal!
Image: Health and Environment Alliance
If you need to look up your MP's email address, you can find it by inserting either you postcode or name of MP or constituency at http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/.
There's a template text below which you can adapt as you see fit; the parts in italics are to edit yourself/entirely optional depending on your level of involvement with Healthy Planet, reasons for being concerned about this issue etc. Please do let us know of any response you get!
Dear ...,
(Good to start with a bit about yourself; though it's entirely up to you.) I'm writing with regard to a vote in the House of Commons tomorrow, which is on an amendment to the Energy Bill that the House of Lords have voted for, which would set more stringent targets on greenhouse gas emission reductions for old coal power stations. Closing this current loophole would be good news for both health and the climate, and this is why I am asking you to support the amendment.
I know that you must be very busy and apologise for the short notice, but I would appreciate it if you could let me know how you intend to vote. If you are supportive of the amendment, it would be great if you could forward the attached briefing paper to some of your colleagues, and encourage them to vote in favour of the amendment.
The attached document is from the Health and Environment Alliance, and summarises the evidence regarding the direct health impacts of coal in the UK, and you may have seen some of the coverage this issue has received this week (such as this recent article). The figures are shocking: 1600 premature deaths attributable to coal alone, along with over 360,000 working days lost annually, at an estimated total cost of £1.1-3.1 billion per year.
In addition to the substantial air pollution-associated health impacts of coal power, there are of course also climate impacts, the health impacts of which were recently highlighted at a Climate and Health Summit alongside the UN climate talks in Warsaw. I am a member of the student group Healthy Planet UK, which is focused on climate change, sustainability and health, and these are two interconnected issues I feel strongly about.
As a public and global health advocate, and a young person who will be around when the climate impacts of our current energy policy decisions are being felt, I am asking you to back this amendment because I think these are two of the biggest health issues we face, and they can be tackled synergistically if our decision-makers are strategic and act on the evidence so as to prioritise people's health. I look forward to hearing from you with how you intend to vote, and would be very happy to continue this discussion about the synergies between health and sustainable development more broadly, and what the ... Party could do to maximise those opportunities, at a meeting if you would have time for this.
Many thanks and best wishes,
Some useful links:
Key facts:
Air pollution from coal-fired power stations in the UK is responsible for:
Some suggested tweets:
· Have health costs from #coal burning been forgotten in debate on UK Energy Bill? New briefing informs policy-makers http://bit.ly/1k0ZOri
· HEAL press release out today: @UKParliament @HouseofCommons urged to recognise health costs of #coal http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· HEAL says #coal burning kills 1600 a year as MPs vote on tighter controlsbit.ly/1ch0kkv via @guardian bit.ly/1bD104Z
· #Health costs associated with air pollution from #coal power plants in the UK estimated at £1.1 - 3.1 BLN per year http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· New figures on #health impacts show need for higher standards on emissions from #coal power plants in UK energy bill http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· . @HealthyPlanetUK's @izzybraithwaite says air pollution from #coal affects people's #health directly, now & in the future http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· via @GenonHEAL Rapidly growing evidence of how #coal affects air pollution & health pushes the issue on to centre stage in the energy debate
· Each year in the UK #air pollution from #coal-fired power plants causes 1,600 premature deaths each year http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· 350,000 lost working days each year in the UK from coal-power generation affecting our health via @msnenvironment http://on-msn.com/1eOYV4Z
· via @hsnewsbreak Coal emissions health warning - 1600 premature deaths each year by British coal-fired power stations http://bit.ly/1gxTmsb
· via @clickgreen UK coal power plants cause 1600 premature deaths a year, HEAL study finds http://bit.ly/1cUPAX3
· via @yorkshirepost http://bit.ly/1bd6u0p Power station fumes kill 1600 a year says HEAL's latest report http://bit.ly/1k0ZOri #cough4coal
· 68,000 additional days of medication due to #air pollution from British #coal power plants reveals new HEAL study http://bit.ly/1bd6u0p
· Coal affects the air we breathe. UK House of Commons vote on Wednesday offers unique opportunity to cash in huge health benefits of cleaner air
· Dr Michal Krzyzanowski 'Energy policy decisions must consider the significant#health costs resulting from #coal use' http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· Via Prof. Paul Wilkinson @LSHTMpress: 'External costs to health from #coal power are among the largest of any form of electricity production'
There's a template text below which you can adapt as you see fit; the parts in italics are to edit yourself/entirely optional depending on your level of involvement with Healthy Planet, reasons for being concerned about this issue etc. Please do let us know of any response you get!
Dear ...,
(Good to start with a bit about yourself; though it's entirely up to you.) I'm writing with regard to a vote in the House of Commons tomorrow, which is on an amendment to the Energy Bill that the House of Lords have voted for, which would set more stringent targets on greenhouse gas emission reductions for old coal power stations. Closing this current loophole would be good news for both health and the climate, and this is why I am asking you to support the amendment.
I know that you must be very busy and apologise for the short notice, but I would appreciate it if you could let me know how you intend to vote. If you are supportive of the amendment, it would be great if you could forward the attached briefing paper to some of your colleagues, and encourage them to vote in favour of the amendment.
The attached document is from the Health and Environment Alliance, and summarises the evidence regarding the direct health impacts of coal in the UK, and you may have seen some of the coverage this issue has received this week (such as this recent article). The figures are shocking: 1600 premature deaths attributable to coal alone, along with over 360,000 working days lost annually, at an estimated total cost of £1.1-3.1 billion per year.
In addition to the substantial air pollution-associated health impacts of coal power, there are of course also climate impacts, the health impacts of which were recently highlighted at a Climate and Health Summit alongside the UN climate talks in Warsaw. I am a member of the student group Healthy Planet UK, which is focused on climate change, sustainability and health, and these are two interconnected issues I feel strongly about.
As a public and global health advocate, and a young person who will be around when the climate impacts of our current energy policy decisions are being felt, I am asking you to back this amendment because I think these are two of the biggest health issues we face, and they can be tackled synergistically if our decision-makers are strategic and act on the evidence so as to prioritise people's health. I look forward to hearing from you with how you intend to vote, and would be very happy to continue this discussion about the synergies between health and sustainable development more broadly, and what the ... Party could do to maximise those opportunities, at a meeting if you would have time for this.
Many thanks and best wishes,
Some useful links:
- Guardian article ('Charity says coal-burning kills 1,600 a year as MPs vote on tighter controls'):
- The Health and Environment Alliance briefing on the health impacts of coal in the UK:
Key facts:
Air pollution from coal-fired power stations in the UK is responsible for:
- 1,600 premature deaths,
- 68,000 additional days of medication,
- 363,266 working days lost
- More than a million incidents of lower respiratory symptoms
Some suggested tweets:
· Have health costs from #coal burning been forgotten in debate on UK Energy Bill? New briefing informs policy-makers http://bit.ly/1k0ZOri
· HEAL press release out today: @UKParliament @HouseofCommons urged to recognise health costs of #coal http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· HEAL says #coal burning kills 1600 a year as MPs vote on tighter controlsbit.ly/1ch0kkv via @guardian bit.ly/1bD104Z
· #Health costs associated with air pollution from #coal power plants in the UK estimated at £1.1 - 3.1 BLN per year http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· New figures on #health impacts show need for higher standards on emissions from #coal power plants in UK energy bill http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· . @HealthyPlanetUK's @izzybraithwaite says air pollution from #coal affects people's #health directly, now & in the future http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· via @GenonHEAL Rapidly growing evidence of how #coal affects air pollution & health pushes the issue on to centre stage in the energy debate
· Each year in the UK #air pollution from #coal-fired power plants causes 1,600 premature deaths each year http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· 350,000 lost working days each year in the UK from coal-power generation affecting our health via @msnenvironment http://on-msn.com/1eOYV4Z
· via @hsnewsbreak Coal emissions health warning - 1600 premature deaths each year by British coal-fired power stations http://bit.ly/1gxTmsb
· via @clickgreen UK coal power plants cause 1600 premature deaths a year, HEAL study finds http://bit.ly/1cUPAX3
· via @yorkshirepost http://bit.ly/1bd6u0p Power station fumes kill 1600 a year says HEAL's latest report http://bit.ly/1k0ZOri #cough4coal
· 68,000 additional days of medication due to #air pollution from British #coal power plants reveals new HEAL study http://bit.ly/1bd6u0p
· Coal affects the air we breathe. UK House of Commons vote on Wednesday offers unique opportunity to cash in huge health benefits of cleaner air
· Dr Michal Krzyzanowski 'Energy policy decisions must consider the significant#health costs resulting from #coal use' http://bit.ly/1ch0kkv
· Via Prof. Paul Wilkinson @LSHTMpress: 'External costs to health from #coal power are among the largest of any form of electricity production'
