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Save Lives with Solar

Posted Our Work · October 07, 2023 4:13 PM

This coming summer is predicted to be one of the hottest in living memory. Without adequate protection, heatwaves cause serious harm and death by triggering heart attacks, kidney failure and heat stroke.

Health risks are greatest for people with pre-existing health conditions, children, older people and people who cannot afford indoor temperature control.

Solar panels on public housing, schools, libraries and community centres will create cheap electricity for air conditioning to protect vulnerable people and children from the health impacts of extreme heat.

Installation of solar panels will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and will therefore help reduce the impacts of climate change and extreme weather in the future.

We are calling on government Ministers to publicly commit to installing solar panels on all public schools, public housing, libraries and community centres as an urgent measure to protect vulnerable people and children from extreme heat related to climate change.

We've drafted an email for you, however the more personalised it is the more effective it will be.

eg. As a nurse, I am deeply concerned for my patients and community who face the greatest health risks during heat waves, especially those in public housing and public schools. I have seen first-hand the mental and physical impacts of XXX

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Help Create Gas-Free Healthy Homes in NSW

Posted Our Work · August 09, 2023 2:07 PM

Healthy Futures and NSW Doctors for the Environment (DEA) are working together to create healthier homes and a healthier climate, free from polluting fossil fuels. Burning gas is driving climate change and putting Australians' health at risk. In NSW, we are calling on the government to end new gas connections and support households to transition to healthier energy solutions. 

The problem

Gas is a significant source of energy for 7 out of 10 Australian homes, in NSW most often used for cooking and heating water. This is either through a reticulated network connection that provides misleadingly called natural gas or bottled gas. Around 5 million Australian households are connected to gas distribution networks. 

Beyond the significant climate risk that burning gas contributes to, families in NSW face unacceptable physical health risks from having gas in their homes. Gas cooktops and heaters produce indoor air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and benzene that can increase the risk of asthma, exacerbate chronic illnesses and even cause death. A child living with gas cooking in their home faces a similar risk of asthma to a child living with household cigarette smoke. Indoor gas has been estimated to be responsible for up to 12% of childhood asthma in Australia.

The solution

The good news is there are alternatives available right now that are cheaper, healthier and better for our climate. By transitioning to renewable-powered, energy-efficient appliances, households can reduce power bills, carbon emissions and toxic air pollution.

While many homeowners can implement these changes, the NSW Government must protect all households and create mechanisms to support low-income earners. 

What are we doing?

Just as health workers led campaigns against tobacco, they can also help transition to gas-free homes.

Doctors, nurses, psychologists and other health professionals are best placed to advocate for people’s physical and mental well-being. By having informed and active health workers who use compelling images and stories and are motivated to take part in public actions, we can erode the social licence of gas and reframe it as the health and climate threat it is.

We're calling on the NSW Government to ban new gas connections in homes and to provide assistance to low-income households to transition to electric alternatives.

Some of our campaign activities will include:

  • Educating, empowering and organising health workers to become spokespeople for gas-free homes
  • Researching the health impacts of gas in homes and advocating for renewable energy solutions
  • Collaborating with health, environmental and social organisations to build a coalition that advocates for Healthy Homes and a Healthy Climate
  • Lobbying the Government to bans new gas connections as soon as possible
  • Advocating for equity so that low-income earners do not bear the brunt of expensive and dangerous gas appliances and are supported to transition to healthier alternatives

What can you do?

  1. If you are based in NSW & work or study in health or community services, please sign our open letter here to the NSW Energy & Climate Change Minister
  2. If you're not in health, you can still help us build awareness and share our work with colleagues and friends in NSW
  3. If you are in Victoria please send an email to the Health Minister here asking for hospitals go all-electric and get off gas 

Please get in touch if you'd like to be involved.

 

Key organisational signatories:

 

     

 

     

    

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200 signatures

To: the Hon. Penny Sharpe MP, NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Environment 

 

Cc: the Hon. Chris Minns, MP, Premier of NSW 

the Hon. Ryan Park, MP, NSW Minister for Health

the Hon. Paul Scully, MP, NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces

the Hon. Rose Jackson, MP, NSW Minister for Housing, Homelessness, Minister for Mental Health 

 

Dear Minister Sharpe,

The burning of gas in homes is harming people in NSW and is contributing to catastrophic climate change. As health and community service workers, students and organisations, we urgently request that your government replace household gas with renewable-powered electricity.

Domestic gas use poses a range of direct and indirect risks to health, which many of us are witnessing in the communities we serve:

  • Indoor pollution from gas appliances causes and exacerbates asthma and other illnesses and can even cause death (1).
  • Pollution from gas stoves has been estimated to account for 12% of the childhood asthma burden in Australia (2).
  • A child living in a house with a gas stove faces roughly a 30% increased risk of asthma (3). This is comparable to a child living with household cigarette smoke (4,5).
  • Carbon monoxide poisoning from gas appliances is a well-recognised and preventable cause of hospital attendance and deaths (6,7), including a near-fatal incident involving three residents of Western Sydney in September 2022 (8).
  • Gas flames release benzene, which can cause cancers and therefore should be kept at the lowest level possible indoors (9).
  • The burning of gas is driving dangerous climate change. Climate change is a health emergency that has become all too apparent to NSW residents in recent years due to devastating bushfires, floods and heatwaves, all of which can have significant and potentially life-threatening health impacts (10). 

There is no feasible pathway to a carbon-neutral gas network (11), so to reach NSW’s net zero targets, the gas network will have to be shut down by 2050 at the latest. Healthier and more economical electric alternatives for all current domestic uses of gas exist, with a plausible pathway to net zero carbon emissions for the electricity grid. The NSW Government should prioritise the health, climate and economic benefits of an accelerated decommissioning of the reticulated gas distribution network. By way of precedent, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and multiple international jurisdictions are already phasing out gas connections to new homes (12). 

At the household level, the energy bill savings from upgrading to heat pump-based heating and induction stoves surpass the initial upgrade costs within a few years (13). This initial cost, however, can be a barrier to low-income households, so to assure energy equity, targeted assistance is important (14). People residing in either public or private rental housing are generally unable to choose whether or not to use indoor gas and therefore need assistance to avoid being left behind with high bills and health impacts as others transition away from gas. Furthermore, households who continue using gas during the transition can decrease exposure to toxins by optimising ventilation, which should be a focus of community education campaigns. 

We, therefore, request that the NSW Government publicly commit to the following:

  • No new gas connections to NSW homes by 2025
  • Means-tested financial assistance for NSW residents to replace gas appliances with electric alternatives, taking advantage of the 2023 Federal budget Household Energy Upgrades Fund (e.g. direct subsidies, rebates and/or no-interest loans). 
  • Abolition of gas disconnection fees by the end of 2025. 
  • A requirement for landlords to undertake safety checks on all gas appliances every 2 years and replace gas appliances that fail after 2025 with energy-efficient electric alternatives.
  • Ending the sale of gas appliances in NSW by the end of 2030.
  • Undertaking public health education on minimising exposure to toxic air pollution in homes still using gas.
  • A commitment to replacing gas with electricity in all public and government buildings, including all public housing and public hospitals.
  • In the interim until all public housing is electrified, establishing a pathway for people living with asthma or other lung conditions in public housing to have gas appliances replaced with electrical alternatives as a priority at the recommendation of their GP, paediatrician or respiratory specialist.

 

We would welcome an opportunity to meet with you to discuss this further.

 

Sincerely,

[signatories]

References:

  1. Ewald, B, Crisp, G & Carey, M 2022, ‘Health risks from indoor gas appliances’, Australian Journal of General Practice, vol. 51, no. 12 https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2022/december/health-risks-from-indoor-gas-appliances
  2. Knibbs, LD, Woldeyohannes, S, Marks, GB & Cowie, CT 2018, ‘Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia’, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 208, no. 7, pp299-302, https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/7/damp-housing-gas-stoves-and-burden-childhood-asthma-australia
  3. Lin, W, Brunekreef, B & Gehring, U 2013, ‘Meta-analysis of the effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide and gas cooking on asthma and wheeze in children’, International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 42, no. 6, pp1724–1737, https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/42/6/1724/737113?login=false 
  4. Jayes, L, Haslam, PL, Gratziou, CG, Powell, P, Britton, J, Vardavas, C, Jimenez-Ruiz, C, Leonardi-Bee, J, Dautzenberg, B, Lundbäck, B, Fletcher, M, Turnbull, A, Katsaounou, P, Heederik, D, Smyth, D, Ravara, S, Sculier, J-P, Martin, F & Orive, JIDG 2016, ‘SmokeHaz: systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the effects of smoking on respiratory health’, CHEST, vol. 150, no. 1, pp164–179, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2016.03.060
  5. Vork, KL, Broadwin, RL & Blaisdell, RJ 2007, ‘Developing asthma in childhood from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke: insights from a meta-regression’, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 115, no. 10, pp1394–1400, https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.10155
  6. Zorbalar, N, Yesilaras, M & Aksay, E 2014, ‘Carbon monoxide poisoning in patients presenting to the emergency department with a headache in winter months’, Emergency Medicine Journal, vol. 31(e1) pp66–70 https://emj.bmj.com/content/31/e1/e66.short 
  7. Coroners Court of Victoria 2013, Inquest into the death of Tyler Robinson, www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/tylerrobinson_203810.pdf
  8. Vidler, A & Meacham, S, 2022 Sydney family lucky to be alive after faulty heater leaks carbon monoxide https://www.9news.com.au/national/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-three-in-hospital-sydney-faulty-heater/4eb00533-684b-46b7-a150-dbe534709ee2
  9. Kashtan, Y. S., Nicholson, M., Finnegan, C., Ouyang, Z., Lebel, E. D., Michanowicz, D. R., ... & Jackson, R. B. (2023). Gas and Propane Combustion from Stoves Emits Benzene and Increases Indoor Air Pollution. Environmental Science & Technology.
  10. Steffen, W, Hughes, L & Perkins, S 2014, Heatwaves: Hotter, longer, more often, Climate Council of Australia, viewed 16 October 2019, https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/heatwaves-report/.
  11. Wood, T., Reeve, A., & Suckling, E. (2023). Getting off gas: why, how, and who should pay? The Grattan Institute Report No. 2023-08 https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/
  12. ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Government 2022, Powering Canberra: our Pathway to Electrification, ACT Government https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/barr/2022/powering-canberra-our-pathway-to-electrification 
  13. Tidemann, C., Bradshaw, S., Rayner, J., & Arndt, D. (2023). Smarter Energy Use: How to cut energy bills and climate harm. The Climate Council https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CC_MVSA0353-CC-Report-Two-for-One-Home-Energy-Efficiency_V5.1-FA-Screen-Single.pdf 
  14. Bryant, D, Porter, E, Rama, I & Sullivan, D 2022, Power pain: an investigation of energy stress in Australia https://www.bsl.org.au/research/publications/power-pain/
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Sign the Open Letter

Posted Our Work · March 06, 2023 1:23 PM

Gas is a harmful, polluting and expensive form of energy, and should be replaced with renewable electricity as soon as possible.

The Victorian Government started this process with a Gas Substitution Roadmap in 2022 but it does not go far or fast enough to protect people’s health. The ACT has already committed to new homes being built gas-free - we want more for Victorians!

If you work or study in health or community services, please sign our open letter calling on the Victorian Government to take action. Together we’re calling on the Victorian Government to commit to no new gas connections to homes by 2025 and to support vulnerable households to make the transition to renewable electricity.

If you’re a health or community service organisation please email us here: [email protected]

If you don't work or study in health or community services, we'd love you to share this page with your networks.

You can read more about the problem and solution with gas in the homes here and in this fact sheet by Doctors for the Environment Australia.

Organisational Signatories:

 HF logo   CAHA RACGP   afmw-logo-header-1.png     AEA logo   AMSA     

250 signatures

To: the Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Victorian Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources

cc: the Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas MP, Victorian Minister for Health & the Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Premier of Victoria

Dear Minister D’Ambrosio,

The burning of gas in homes is threatening the health and wellbeing of Victorians and is contributing to catastrophic climate change. As health and community service workers, students and organisations we request that your government replace household gas with renewable-powered electricity urgently.

The Victorian Government’s Gas Substitution Roadmap [1] is a welcome step in the right direction, but currently lacks detail on the necessary timeframe for transition and assistance for Victorians on low incomes. We call on you to address these issues in the 2023 Roadmap update to reduce cost of living pressures and protect Victorians’ health and wellbeing.

Domestic gas use poses a range of direct and indirect risks to health, which many of us are witnessing in the communities we serve:

  • Indoor pollution from gas appliances causes and exacerbates asthma and other illnesses and can even cause death [2].
    • Pollution from gas stoves has been estimated to account for 12% of the childhood asthma burden in Australia [3].
    • A child living in a house with a gas stove faces roughly a 30% increased risk of asthma [4]. This is comparable to a child living with household cigarette smoke [5,6].
    • Carbon monoxide poisoning from gas appliances is a well recognised and preventable cause of emergency department attendances [7] and has caused tragic fatalities [8].
  • Rising gas prices are putting people’s physical and mental health at risk:
    • Many Australians are struggling to pay their energy bills, and this is more common among renters, people with low incomes and people with disabilities or chronic health conditions [9]. Last year Victorian wholesale gas prices more than doubled [10], increasing the risk of energy poverty for Victorians using gas.
    • When people cannot afford to maintain their homes at optimal temperatures they are more prone to both heat and cold-related illnesses, which already kill roughly 10,000 Australians every year [11-13].
    • People who struggle to pay their energy bills can limit their expenditure on food and medicines and can suffer significant mental health impacts from extreme temperatures and financial stress [14,15].
    • Overall, energy poverty is associated with poorer self-reported health in Australia [16].
    • Because electric reverse-cycle heating is cheaper than gas heating [17] and this price difference is projected to increase [18] it is urgent to assist Victorians, and particularly those most vulnerable, to switch from gas to electricity as soon as possible.
  • The burning of gas is driving dangerous climate change. Victoria uses more gas than any other Australian state or territory and gas use accounts for approximately 17% of Victoria's greenhouse gas emissions [1]. Climate change is a health emergency that has become all too apparent to Australians in recent years due to devastating floods, bushfires and other extreme weather events. 

Households must be supported to switch from gas to electricity as soon as possible. Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse communities should be actively engaged in this process, and specific requirements must be set for rental properties. As a precedent, the Australian Capital Territory has already phased out gas connections to new homes [19]. We therefore request that you update the Victorian Gas Substitution Roadmap to include:

  1. A commitment to no new gas connections to Victorian homes by 2025,
  2. Means-tested financial assistance (e.g. direct subsidies, rebates and/or no-interest loans) for Victorians to replace their gas heaters, stoves and hot water systems with electric alternatives,
  3. No further gas appliances to be offered through the Victorian Energy Upgrade Program after 2023,
  4. A requirement for landlords to replace any gas appliances that fail after 2023 with energy-efficient electric alternatives,
  5. Abolition of gas disconnection fees by the end of 2023, and
  6. A commitment to replacing gas with electricity in all public housing and all public and government buildings, including proposed public housing such as the Commonwealth Games Village in Morwell.

We would welcome an opportunity to meet with you to discuss this further.

Sincerely,

[signatories]

References:

  1. DELWP (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning) 2022, Gas Substitution Roadmap, DELWP, Victorian Government, accessed 11 January 2023 via https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/victorias-gas-substitution-roadmap
  2. Ewald, B, Crisp, G & Carey, M 2022, ‘Health risks from indoor gas appliances’, Australian Journal of General Practice, vol. 51, no. 12, viewed 11 January 2023, https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2022/december/health-risks-from-indoor-gas-appliances
  3. Knibbs, LD, Woldeyohannes, S, Marks, GB & Cowie, CT 2018, ‘Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia’, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 208, no. 7, pp299-302, viewed 11 January 2023, https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/7/damp-housing-gas-stoves-and-burden-childhood-asthma-australia
  4. Lin, W, Brunekreef, B & Gehring, U 2013, ‘Meta-analysis of the effects of indoor nitrogen dioxide and gas cooking on asthma and wheeze in children’, International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 42, no. 6, pp1724–1737, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/ dyt150 
  5. Jayes, L, Haslam, PL, Gratziou, CG, Powell, P, Britton, J, Vardavas, C, Jimenez-Ruiz, C, Leonardi-Bee, J, Dautzenberg, B, Lundbäck, B, Fletcher, M, Turnbull, A, Katsaounou, P, Heederik, D, Smyth, D, Ravara, S, Sculier, J-P, Martin, F & Orive, JIDG 2016, ‘SmokeHaz: systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the effects of smoking on respiratory health’, CHEST, vol. 150, no. 1, pp164–179, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2016.03.060
  6. Vork, KL, Broadwin, RL & Blaisdell, RJ 2007, ‘Developing asthma in childhood from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke: insights from a meta-regression’, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 115, no. 10, pp1394–1400, https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.10155
  7. Zorbalar, N, Yesilaras, M & Aksay, E 2014, ‘Carbon monoxide poisoning in patients presenting to the emergency department with a headache in winter months’, Emergency Medicine Journal, vol. 31(e1):e66–70. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2012-201712
  8. Coroners Court of Victoria 2013, Inquest into the death of Tyler Robinson, viewed 11 January 2023 at www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/tylerrobinson_203810.pdf
  9. Bryant, D, Porter, E, Rama, I & Sullivan, D 2022, Power pain: an investigation of energy stress in Australia, accessed 11 January 2023 via https://www.bsl.org.au/research/publications/power-pain/
  10. Australian Energy Regulator 2023, Victorian gas market average daily weighted prices by quarter, viewed 30 January 2023 at https://www.aer.gov.au/wholesale-markets/wholesale-statistics/victorian-gas-market-average-daily-weighted-prices-by-quarter
  11. Cheng, J, Xu, Z, Bambrick, H, Su, H, Tong, S & Wenbiao, H 2019, ‘Impacts of health, cold and temperature variability on mortality in Australia, 2000-2009’, Science of the Total Environment, vol. 651, part 2, pp2558-2565, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.186
  12. Gasparrini, A, Guo, Y, Hashizume, M, Lavigne, E, Zanobetti, A, Schwartz, J, Tobias, A, Tong, S, Rocklöv, J, Forsberg, B, Leone, M, De Sario, M, Bell, ML, Guo, YL, Wu, C, Kan, H, Yi, S, de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, M, Saldiva, PHN, Honda, Y, Kim, H & Armstrong, B 2015, ‘Mortality risk attributable to high and low ambient temperature: a multicountry observational study’, The Lancet, vol. 386, no. 9991, pp369-375, viewed 11 January 2023 at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)62114-0/fulltext
  13. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2022) Deaths, Australia 2021, viewed 11 January 2023 at https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/deaths-australia/latest-release
  14. Dignam, J & Barrett, B 2022, Cold and costly: Renter Researchers' Experiences of Winter 22, accessed 11 January 2023 via https://www.betterrenting.org.au/renter_researchers_winter_22
  15. Porto Valente, C, Morris, A & Wilkinson, S 2021, ‘Energy poverty, housing and health: the lived experience of lower income Australians’, Building Research & Information, vol. 50, no. 1-2, pp16-18, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2021.1968293 
  16. Churchill, SA & Smyth, R 2021, ‘Energy poverty and health: panel data evidence from Australia’, Energy Economics vol. 97 [105219], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105219
  17. Sustainability Victoria 2022, Calculate heating running costs, viewed 11 January 2023 at https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/energy-efficiency-and-reducing-emissions/save-energy-in-the-home/reduce-heating-costs-at-home/calculate-heating-costs
  18. McLeod R 2022, Limiting energy bills by getting off gas: all-electric homes after the 2022 energy crisis, Renew Australia, accessed 11 January 2023 via https://renew.org.au/research/limiting-energy-bills-by-getting-off-gas/
  19. ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Government 2022, Powering Canberra: our Pathway to Electrification, ACT Government, viewed 11 January 2023 at https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/barr/2022/powering-canberra-our-pathway-to-electrification
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Green Electricity Guide

Posted Resources · February 21, 2022 4:09 PM

Healthy Futures is working hard to pressure Australia's largest polluter, AGL, to switch to renewable energy. And it's not just us who understands AGL is making reckless choices. Environmental Group Greenpeace released its updated Green Electricity Guide in February 2022 and out of the 48 energy retailers reviewed, AGL ranked dead last.Electricity Guide 1Whether you are an AGL customer or a potential future one, can you make a pledge with us to boycott AGL until it commits to replacing coal with renewable energy by 2030?

Pledge to Boycott AGL


If you do intend to switch your energy retailer away from AGL, your switch could be even more powerful if it's co-ordinated to happen at the same time as other AGL customers. Pledge to boycott AGL and we'll be in touch with more details.

 

So which energy retailers are ok?

Healthy Futures does not endorse any specific energy retailer. However we do know for certain that many retailers are truly committed to providing clean, renewable energy and some often support local communities in the process.

You can view the Green Electricity Guide to see the full ranking and make your own call on who will power your life here:

Green Electricity Guide