CHI Co-Director and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Dr. Neelu Tummala, co-wrote an opinion piece for the Virginia Mercury entitled, 'Governor should reconsider policy decisions that will hurt the environment.' This guest column piece encourages Governor Youngkin to reconsider the withdrawal of Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program that afforded significant health benefits to Virginia residents, and residents of other participating states, due to reductions in air pollution, citing thousands of avoided asthma attacks and as many as 100 averted preterm births. Tummala and her co-writer further recommend the reconsideration of the governor’s nomination of Andrew Wheeler as Virginia’s secretary of natural resources, referencing several instances during Wheeler's time at the EPA where human health was not prioritized in decision making and weaker regulatory standards were adopted.
Read the full article here.