| Number Surveyed | |
| Number Responding | |
| Response Rate |
July 21, 2023 7:00am
Climate change worries and doubts
Power Poll respondents concerned about climate change, lack of efforts to address it
Massive floods. Record heat waves. More and more extreme storms. Forest fires burning out of control. More air quality alerts and power outages.
Climate alarm bells are ringing across the country and all over the planet. And Power Poll Memphis members are worried.
Nearly half (46 percent) of those who responded to the July Power Poll said they were extremely worried about climate change. Another 37 percent said they were somewhat worried. Only 15 percent said they were not worried at all.
"We're seeing additional evidence every day in the media. Some may be overblown, but I believe it's probably worse than we want to acknowledge," wrote Power Poll member Mark White, creator and host of Our Memphis History.
Presenting sponsor
Health Disparities Evident in Tennessee
BlueCross working to raise awareness, improve health equity
In Tennessee, Black patients are 2.5x as likely to have a pregnancy-related death than White patients. The Hispanic population accounted for 8% of COVID-related deaths for those 40 years and younger. Black women have higher mortality rates than White women.
These disparities were highlighted in the first BlueCross Health Equity Report, and we display health screening rates for 20 health metrics that align with those statistics for 2 million BlueCross members in Tennessee.
What is Health Equity?
Health equity is “the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health” according to the CDC. It’s not just about what the person does, but about how the health care system and many social factors influence access to quality healthcare.
While these social factors that have contributed to health disparities have existed for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic shed new light on them. BlueCross has long served vulnerable populations, but the pandemic compelled it to evaluate how it could do more.
What BlueCross is Doing About Health Equity
“We wanted to get a better picture of the health issues and barriers to care faced by our members and Tennesseans as a whole, so that we could more effectively partner with health care providers to address those issues,” says Dr. Andrea Willis, chief medical officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. “Understanding this data helps support progress that will ultimately deliver better health for everyone, regardless of their background.”
“At BlueCross, health equity is one of our values,” Dr. Willis says. “We recognized that to help address it, we first had to understand the scope of the challenge. That’s why we developed the Health Equity Report, the first-ever of its kind in Tennessee.”
The report identifies social vulnerabilities and factors across Black, White, Asian and Hispanic populations that could be contributing to health disparities. Measures fall under six broad categories: maternal health, child and adolescent well-care, cancer, behavioral health, COVID-19 and chronic condition management. The initial report serves as a baseline for certain clinic care metrics; subsequent reports will display BlueCross’ progress across a subset of these measures.
“Our objective is not just to create awareness, but to demonstrate our commitment to make health equity an ongoing priority,” Dr. Willis explains. “The report helps us establish goals and track our progress on addressing gaps in care.”
BlueCross efforts to increase health equity include:
- Making health equity a part of value-based care conversations with providers in our networks
- Opening eight primary and urgent care centers in the state to expand convenient access to high-quality care
- Awarding scholarships to outstanding minority health care students through our foundation (42 since 2012)
“Our Health Equity Report is an important part of our efforts to reduce health disparities in the state,” Dr. Willis says. “But we can’t do it alone. We hope our initiatives will inspire others to advance health equity in our communities.”
Additional Resources
Meanwhile, 75 percent of respondents believe governments, businesses and individuals should be doing more to address climate change.
"All governments need to be working on climate change. None are doing enough but Tennessee state government seems to be in denial," wrote member Dwayne Thompson, a state representative from Cordova.
On the other hand, 10 percent of respondents think we're doing too much. Three percent beleive we should do nothing.
"Until China decides it is in their best interests to stop opening coal-fired power plants, the best efforts of the U.S. and even Europe will hardly matter. China opened the equivalent of two new coal plants a week in 2022," wrote member Steven Brown, president of residential sales for Crye-Leike.
Despite growing concerns, a majority (53 percent) of respondents doubt that climate change will be a major issue in the 2024 presidential election. Thirty-one percent think it will.
Those results mirror a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center. Overall, 37 percent of Americans say addressing climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress in 2023. And climate change ranked 17th out of 21 national issues included in the survey.
"Climate change and science are real. People are in denial because they like to avoid facing bad news," wrote member Jason Hood, executive vice president and chief legal officer of DH Management Group.
"Climate change is unlikely to be a major issue in the upcoming elections because there will be other distractions as some seek to deflect attention from apolitical issues to those that continue to divide people and stoke the culture wars--all for their own, personal benefit."
Power Poll Members: Do you have a friend or colleague who should be on Power Poll? Please invite them to join!
About Power Poll: Power Poll asks questions of the most powerful, influential people in U.S. cities. It is not a scientific survey. But because the people responding to the surveys comprise the leadership structure of their cities, the results afford a fascinating glimpse into the thoughts, opinions, and beliefs of those in a position to make change. Power Poll is distinctly nonpartisan.
Corporate Sponsors
We thank the following organizations for their support of Power Poll. Learn more about becoming a sponsor here.
Member Comments