Locally focused, cross-disciplinary climate action is crucial to advancing meaningful solutions across Georgia.

That type of work, rooted in both science and community partnership, is exactly what Dr. Preeti Jaggi is focused on. A pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and a leader with Georgia Clinicians for Climate Action, Preeti has become a powerful voice connecting climate solutions with children’s health and community well-being. 

In this installment of the Georgia Climate Digest video interview series, long-time climate justice advocate Eriqah Vincent sat down with Preeti to talk about the connections between climate and public health, equitable access to clean air, and her team’s Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant project focused on scaling electric school bus adoption.

Watch the video above to hear their full conversation, or keep reading to learn about solutions at the intersection of climate and public health.

A Lifelong Commitment to Climate Action

From an early age, Preeti understood the health implications of environmental change.

“I remember watching an Earth Day special on TV in the 1990s, when I was in high school, and I was really concerned about how climate affects health,” she shared. “I remember making my parents recycle and things like that, and getting into taking care of our climate and environment at that time.”

Like many working parents, the demands of residency, fellowship, and raising two children pulled her away from sustained climate advocacy. But as her children grew older, she found her way back into the work.

She completed the Climate Reality Project training in 2017, began working with her community to establish clean energy goals, and took climate and health classes through Emory University. In doing so, she deepened her understanding of not only air pollution and disease, but also the role health systems themselves play in emissions.

“In healthcare, we also contribute a lot to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States,” she noted. “We account for about 8.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions.”

This reality pushed her to think about climate solutions both inside and outside the hospital, from system-wide waste reduction to community-focused clean air initiatives.

How Climate Impacts Health in Georgia

For Georgia communities, the health effects of a warming climate are becoming increasingly visible, as our state experiences more frequent severe storms and hotter summers, as well as disruptions in medical supply chains.

“One thing that we definitely see is heat,” Preeti explained. “Our summers have more hot days, and that can lead to heat stroke, for instance.”

She outlined an interconnected web of extreme weather events that can result in direct and indirect health outcomes for Georgians:

• Stronger storms fueled in part by warming oceans

• Waterways overwhelmed by extreme precipitation, increasing diarrheal illness

• Mosquito breeding in standing water

• Household displacement, leaving families without stable shelter or access to medical care

• Interruptions to essential medical supplies, as seen when major saline suppliers were knocked offline by hurricanes

• Challenges getting to healthcare appointments after storms

“Sometimes it is so profound that it affects us in so many different ways that it’s hard to label,” she said.

As Eriqah noted during the conversation, these climate-related health challenges often intensify for families with limited resources or those living in areas already impacted by air quality or infrastructure constraints.

Preeti affirmed this: “When we think about equity, we know that the people that have the least are going to be more profoundly affected by disruptions from climate change.”

Climate, Health, and Equity Are Deeply Connected

Preeti uses both data and real-life examples to illustrate how historic inequities show up in today’s health outcomes.

“We know, for instance, that with air pollution, many areas that were previously redlined don’t have as much green infrastructure or trees,” she said. “Urban heat islands can be worse in those areas.”

When someone lives near a major roadway, in a neighborhood without tree cover, or in a community with limited healthcare access, it can affect their risk from asthma, heat exposure, and other climate-related health challenges.

Eriqah shared a personal perspective as a mother of a young child with intermittent asthma. After an industrial facility incident in Conyers, her daughter’s daycare kept children indoors due to poor air quality. “Multiple children had asthma there,” she said. “It’s really important, the ways in which we're thinking about what happens when racial inequities meet climate injustice and income inequities.”

Preeti added that economic stability plays a major role: “If you think about a storm coming and people fleeing, you have to have gas money for that. So there’s a profound intersection between extreme weather and inequity.”

And even extreme heat has financial consequences: “Extreme heat also makes your power bill go up,” she said. “Some people can afford it and some people cannot.”

For community leaders and climate advocates across Georgia, this reminder is crucial: advancing climate solutions also advances public health and equity.

Bringing More Electric School Buses to Georgia

One of the most innovative aspects of Preeti's work has been her leadership in a statewide effort to accelerate the adoption of electric school buses, supported by a Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions & Equity Grant.

The project is rooted in a core public health message: air pollution from diesel buses harms children, especially those with asthma or chronic respiratory conditions.

She explained the project’s goal: “We really thought about how to elevate the idea that climate is a health issue… and for this project we were thinking about how air pollution has a profound effect on children.”

To take on this challenge, Georgia Clinicians for Climate Action partnered with Mothers and Others for Clean Air and the Georgia State Medical Association, an association of Black physicians with a strong commitment to equity.

Their strategy focused on pairing the trusted voices of healthcare professionals with practical, on-the-ground support for schools. Clinicians met directly with school boards and district leaders to explain why electrifying school buses is such a meaningful investment in children’s health. By grounding the conversation in evidence about air quality, respiratory health, and the benefits of reducing diesel exhaust exposure, these healthcare advocates helped school decision-makers understand the stakes for the students and bus drivers in their communities.

Once that foundation was in place, Mothers and Others for Clean Air stepped in to help districts move from interest to action. Their team offered guidance on everything from applying for funding through the Inflation Reduction Act to navigating the logistical details of charging infrastructure and driver training. This combination of medical expertise and hands-on technical assistance gave school systems a clearer path forward - one that connected the “why” of electrification with the practical “how” needed to make clean, healthy transportation a reality for Georgia students.

By bridging their health expertise and technical planning, the team helped schools better understand why electric buses matter and how to make them possible.

“We really need a village to help with these problems,” Preeti emphasized. “You cannot think in silos.”

Why Electric School Buses Matter for Georgia’s Future

Electric school buses offer benefits for Georgia students and communities that go beyond carbon:

• Efficiency: Electric vehicles, including school buses, operate far more efficiently than their diesel counterparts, even when the electricity grid includes fossil fuel generation. Their higher energy efficiency translates into lower overall emissions per mile traveled.

• Equity: Black children in Georgia face disproportionate rates of asthma, premature birth, and related health challenges, making reduced exposure to diesel exhaust especially important. Transitioning to electric school buses helps advance health equity by protecting students who are already at higher risk.

• Air Quality: Because electric buses produce no tailpipe emissions, they eliminate key pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides that typically accumulate around diesel vehicles. This leads to cleaner, healthier air for students, drivers, and surrounding neighborhoods.

• Health: Reducing exposure to transportation-related air pollution supports better health outcomes across a wide range of conditions, including asthma, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and cognitive impacts. Cleaner buses directly contribute to healthier school environments.

And importantly, electrification is essential for long-term emissions reduction. “You cannot get off those fossil fuels unless you have electrification,” Preeti said. 

How Georgians Can Support This Work

Community members, including healthcare workers, parents, activists, and local leaders, can play a meaningful role in advancing clean air solutions.

“We are definitely always looking for champions to help us spread the work that we’re doing,” Preeti said.

Mothers and Others for Clean Air now trains healthcare professionals as Healthy Air is Healthcare Champions. These short trainings provide education on air pollution and equip clinicians to advocate within their own communities.

There are also a multitude of ways for the public to participate in outreach, educational efforts, and advocacy through their organization.

A Source of Hope: Local Action Across the State

As the conversation came to a close, Eriqah posed her favorite question: What gives you hope about climate solutions in Georgia?

Preeti didn’t hesitate.

“What gives me hope around climate in Georgia is meeting people that are doing the work,” she said. “There are so many wonderful people that I’ve met doing this work, and that’s what gives me hope.”

She emphasized that while national or global policy debates may feel distant, the work happening locally, in school boards, clinics, community groups, and neighborhood meetings, is powerful and persistent.

“We don’t need to ask anybody at the federal level about what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re just working at the local level… talking to our school boards, talking to people who are doing the work in Georgia.”

It’s a reminder that climate solutions thrive when communities lead, and when health, equity, and sustainability come together to shape a better future for all Georgians.

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