Environmentalists like me are often accused of caring more about butterflies, frogs, birds, and beavers than we do people. We’ve been called radicals, wackos, and extremists. But we know that keeping our environment healthy is not about prioritizing wildlife over humans; rather, protecting the environment helps people live longer and healthier lives.

The connection between environmental issues and public health is well documented. According to the World Health Organization, cleaning up the planet’s air could save 7 million lives every year. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adds that nearly 25% of all deaths and diseases around the world can be attributed to environmental factors, and “maintaining a healthy environment is central to increasing quality of life and years of healthy life.”

Yet only a third of Americans worry a “great deal” or a “fair amount” about the quality of the environment, and less than one-quarter are similarly concerned about climate change, according to a recent Gallup poll. Moreover, only 36% of Americans believe that global warming will pose a serious threat to their way of life during their lifetimes. This is despite warnings from the international scientific community that the “ice caps are melting, sea ice in the Arctic is collapsing, water supplies are coming under stress, heat waves and heavy rains are intensifying, coral reefs are dying, and fish and many other creatures are migrating toward the poles or in some cases going extinct.”

So even though 97% of scientists maintain that health and life on earth as we know it is in serious jeopardy from increasing global temperatures, most Americans aren’t even worried about it!

Why the disconnect? Clearly it’s not that people don’t care about staying healthy. They just don’t directly associate their personal health with the health of the bigger world around them. This may be partly because the environmental community is divided and has failed to deliver the message about the connection between public health and the environment. But there is another reason: the fossil fuel industry has a much bigger megaphone. The forces of greed are powerful, and the money spent by the coal, oil, and other fossil fuel producers to influence politicians and create doubt in the public’s mind dwarfs the amount spent by conservation advocates.

To change this and to allow people and wildlife to flourish, all of us must publicly support and loudly promote these key elements of environmental health:

• Less polluted air, with reduced greenhouse gases
• Higher quality water, both surface and ground
• Elimination of toxic substances and hazardous wastes
• Improved local and global community health
• Repaired infrastructure