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Transcript of DelBene Remarks at Ways & Means Hearing on Climate Crisis and Highlighting Bolt Creek Fire

Washington, D.C., September 15, 2022

Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) participated in a House Ways & Means Committee hearing on the climate crisis and highlighted the impact of the Bolt Creek Fire currently raging in her district that has burnt nearly 10,000 acres in King and Snohomish counties.

Witnesses included:

  • Jodi Sherman, M.D., Associate Professor of Anesthesiology of the Yale School of Medicine, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in Environmental Health Sciences, and Founding Director of the Yale Program on Healthcare Environmental Sustainability in the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health
  • Paul Biddinger, M.D., Chief Preparedness and Continuity Officer, Mass General Brigham and Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at Mass General
  • Parinda Khatri, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Health Systems
  • Elizabeth Schenk, Ph.D. R.N., Executive Director of Environmental Stewardship for Providence
  • Rich Powell, J.D., Chief Executive Officer, ClearPath Inc.

Below is a full transcript. The video can be found here.

Congresswoman DelBene: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for holding this important hearing and I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here to talk about this important topic as well.

As we sit in this hearing, parts of my district are burning.

The Bolt Creek Fire has scorched nearly 10,000 acres across Snohomish and King counties. It’s forced families to evacuate and schools to close.

Additionally, the fire is smothering the region’s sky with far-reaching smoke and ash.

Air pollution obviously can be hazardous to anyone, but especially children, older adults, and those with existing health conditions like pneumonia and emphysema. 

And we’ve seen this happen before in my region with the 2015 Goodell Fire and the 2017 Suiattle Fire.

As the climate crisis intensifies, these devastating wildfires are happening more frequently and with greater intensity.

We’ve gotta act with urgency to ensure our health care system is properly equipped to respond to these increasingly frequent climate disasters.

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