Policy Forum Pod: Health impacts of fossil fuels

Abstract

This podcast delves into the complex world of balancing the need for energy through fossil fuels and protecting the environment and human health.

Energy is central to so much human activity today and the politics are complex, weighing up local and global needs for energy, the ‘needs of the economy’ against the resultant environmental and climate impacts. Guests Professor Melissa Haswell and Professor Hillary Bambrick discuss how in the centre of this balance is human health and wellbeing which is dependent on energy, but adversely impacted by fossil fuel extraction, processing and by climate change.

Oil and gas extraction impacts the environment through pollution and habitat destruction from which recovery and restoration is complex. These industries often operate on Indigenous lands, leading to harmful land rights conflicts. The fossil fuel industry is also a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions and resultant climate change.

We need to be good ancestors and we need to put people first, put health first, put children first, says Professor Haswell.