The Road to Health Care Parity: Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, points to the tendency of transportation policies to exacerbate preexisting disparities in access to health care and exposure to environments that often diminish public health. 

The Road to Health Care Parity: Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, points to the tendency of transportation policies to exacerbate preexisting disparities in access to health care and exposure to environments that often diminish public health. 

After three decades of increases, adult obesity rates remained level in every state except for one, Arkansas, in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2013, a report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

This report is a great primer to learn about the health and equity impacts of transportation, the related challenges we face as a nation, and the opportunities for reform. It is built on a research foundation and includes policy and program priorities. 

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), a long-term blueprint of a region’s transportation system, provides a particularly important opportunity for health promotion. With the passage of SB 375 these plans have become intensively focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  How can we also make sure they focus on producing positive health outcomes and creating access to opportunities for disadvantaged communities? These plans don’t just sit on a shelf; they are tied to billions of dollars in state and federal transportation funds.

According to the report Endangered By Sprawl: How Runaway Development Threatens America’s Wildlife, produced by the National Wildlife Federation, Smart Growth America, and NatureServe, the rapid conversion of once-natural areas and farmland into subdivisions, shopping centers, roads and parking lots has become a leading threat to America’s native plants and animals.

This report, issued May 16, 2013, by the Alameda County Department of Public Health, finds significant public health impacts on bus riders resulting from service cuts and fare hikes.

In this report, the National Wildlife Federation explores the “value” of America’s public lands.  As a noun, “value” refers to monetary worth.  As a verb, “value” refers to the act of appreciating and treasuring something. This report compiles and summarizes data from a growing body of research on the value of public lands, which confirms that public lands are vital to the nation’s economic health and deeply valued by the American public. 

 This publication provides a great introduction to Minnesota's environmental policy framework. It is not an advocacy document, and does not include specific positions on controversial environmental issues. For that, please contact MCEA directly, or peruse the rest of this website.