Green Power - Healthcare

"I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure." Taken from the Hippocratic Oath, Modern Version, written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools today.

For many who have taken the Hippocratic Oath, preventing disease is not simply an aspiration, but a guiding principle. With the introduction of green electricity to Maine in 2003, it is now easy and affordable to prevent disease by avoiding unnecessary and unhealthy pollution.

In the United States, electric power plants are the largest industrial source of air pollution. Entering our bodies through the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, pollution from these plants plays a role in many diseases. References below show just how clear this recognition is becoming.

Green electricity is a way to prevent disease by avoiding pollution at its source. Generating electricity from hydropower dams, wind farms and solar panels results in cleaner air, which leads to better health outcomes. In short, green electricity means pink lungs. For patients and employees, communities, schools and kids, and the health care professionals who care for them.

Spotlight on Healthcare
Maine's healthcare organizations are going green. Read more »

MeGPC Services and Publications

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Maine Green Power Connection "Improve the Air You Breathe" - A basic handout on green power and the Maine Green Power Connection. Feb 2005. [PDF]
Maine Green Power Connection "Green Electricity, Pink Lungs" - A handout on green power for use and distribution by health care professionals. Call for quantities and/or for MeGPC's booth for your events. May 2004. [PDF]
Maine Green Power Menu - A comprehensive listing of all green power products available in Maine, arrayed for easy comparison. Links for further information and easy purchase. Call MeGPC with any questions.
Green-Powered Organizations - Every Maine organization that buys green power deserves to be noticed. MeGPC lists every organization that purchases green power, and drives web traffic to that listing via events, earned media and paid advertising.

Green Power and Public Health: Publications and References

Clean Air Task Force "Death, Disease and Dirty Power" - "..the most rigorous look to date at the contribution of air emissions from the nation's power plants?and the impact of those emissions on human health". From the forward by John Spengler, Harvard School of Public Health. October 2000. [PDF]
EPA Green Power Partnership A Guide to Buying and Benefiting from Green Power.

Health-Related Links

How Stuff Works "How Ozone Pollution Works" An introduction to how ozone effects lungs, its sources and ways to reduce its effects. Lots of good information and links. http://science.howstuffworks.com/ozone-pollution2.htm
Maine Hospital Association Home to "Maine Hospitals for a Healthy Environment", a project begun in 2001 to assist Maine's community-governed hospitals in mitigating their impact on the environment. www.themha.org
Green-e/ Center For Resource Solutions A summary of the specific pollutants generated by electricity production, and their health effects. Footnoted.
Natural Resources Defense Council "With Every Breath You Take". A feature story on NRDC's clean air project on the links between air pollution and lung disease. www.nrdc.org/onearth/03win/asthma1.asp?r=n

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