Bill Frist, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1995\u20132007) and Senate Majority Leader in his final four years, is now using his medical background and bipartisan credentials to bridge the partisan divide over climate change. Frist, who kept his campaign pledge not to serve more than two terms, left the Senate in 2006. Despite an early career marked by support for Arctic drilling\u2014earning him a lifetime 7% rating from the League of Conservation Voters\u2014he has since undergone a significant transformation.<\/p>\n
Trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, Frist founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. His medical insight, notably the discovery that the immunosuppressant cyclosporine\u2014derived from soil fungus\u2014revolutionized organ transplants, shaped his understanding of nature\u2019s role in human health.<\/p>\n
Now, Frist champions the fusion of human health and planetary well-being. In June, he published an article on how ecosystem collapse and wildlife habitat loss impair children\u2019s brain development and immune response. On Substack, he has written about microplastics and their health impacts. In 2023, he presented data to the Senate Budget Committee linking rising temperatures to escalating healthcare costs. He is also writing a book on how climate and nature influence human health, aiming to \u201cdepolarize\u201d the climate conversation.<\/p>\n
Frist credits his second wife, Tracy, whom he married in 2015, for deepening his connection to the natural world. With a graduate background in animal and human behavior, Tracy oversees riparian and wetland restoration and regenerative agriculture at their farms in Tennessee and Virginia. \u201cShe is born of nature, is part of it,\u201d Frist said. This partnership crystallized his lifetime of experiences in science, policy, and planetary interests like HIV\/AIDS and PEPFAR.<\/p>\n
A Pew poll found that only 6% of Republicans are worried about climate change, a figure Frist and fellow \u201ceco-right\u201d advocates find alarming. Alex Flint, executive director of the Alliance for Market Solutions (a conservative group backing carbon taxes), noted the isolation: \u201cIt\u2019s lonely.\u201d Yet both believe reality will force political change. \u201cIn the long run, there is going to be a political response forced by the reality of the changing climate,\u201d Flint said. Frist targets \u201cpeople who are reasonable, rational, appreciate science\u201d and treats others with dignity.<\/p>\n
Drawing on his surgical experience\u2014having operated on lungs darkened by smoke and particulates\u2014Frist says he is done defending polluters. He emphasizes the immediate health impacts of pollution and extreme weather. In May, he was interviewed by former Vice President Al Gore, who praised Frist\u2019s evolution: \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to have Bill Frist out there saying these things\u2026 He entered the issue through concerns about health, and that opened into a full examination of this crisis.\u201d Gore stressed the importance of a prominent Republican advocating for urgent climate action.<\/p>\n
Frist\u2019s message centers on health, hope, and healing for families today. \u201cIt\u2019s the health, hope, and the healing of themselves, their loved ones and their kids\u2014not 10 years from now, or 20 years, not 30 years from now, but today,\u201d he said. This approach, he believes, can depolarize the climate conversation and bridge the partisan divide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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