Green power as a prescription for good health
Concerned about climate change and its threat to human health, Kaiser Permanente announced plans to purchase enough renewable energy to provide half of the electricity it uses in California and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by 30 percent.
Greenhouse gas emissions are a known contributor to climate change and the rise of pollution and disease. In 2012, we adopted a national sustainable energy policy and launched an ambitious strategy to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020 (compared to 2008 levels).
Already a leading user of green power, Kaiser Permanente has agreed to support the construction and operation of three new renewable energy projects that will come online in 2016 and generate 590 million kilowatt hours of power a year. That’s equivalent to the amount of electricity used by more than 82,000 American homes a year.
The renewable energy projects will make Kaiser Permanente one of the top users of green power in the country and will allow the health care system to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goal three years earlier than promised.
“Climate change isn’t a distant threat, said Kathy Gerwig, Kaiser Permanente’s environmental stewardship officer. “The health impacts of a changing climate can be felt today in the form of increasing rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments, spread of infectious diseases, heat stress and injuries from severe weather events. By addressing climate change for the future, we are improving the health of communities today.”
With 38 hospitals, over 600 medical offices, and additional warehouse and administrative space, Kaiser Permanente uses nearly 1.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, and emits 806,000 metric tons of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It expects its annual greenhouse gas emissions to decrease to 617,000 metric tons by 2017 as a result of these clean-energy purchases as well as other initiatives to reduce energy consumption and increase the amount of power coming from renewable sources. These energy strategies have already contributed to a 5 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2008, even while Kaiser Permanente was expanding health care services to patients and communities.
