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We’ve often heard that there are dangerous levels of air pollution in cities from Los Angeles to Calcutta. Yet little has been done to solve this problem worldwide. A Nobel Prize winning scientist feels that there are ways that every country can realistically contribute to making our air cleaner. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Mario Molina is a professor of chemistry at MIT. He and other researchers are telling us it’ll certainly cost money to clean up the air in overcrowded cities, but if we don’t – there will be a greater price to pay.
“It is really a matter of having a sufficiently long term vision so that the activities of society take into account damage to the environment. In particular it is for the economists to incorporate the costs of damaging the environment. Once we do that, it will be clearer that it will pay off to change the way we go about functioning in society.”
Dr. Molina feels that the more industrialized nations should work together with developing, poorer countries to reduce air pollution on a global scale.
“Technologies exists now, clean technologies that produce a lot less pollution. It is just a matter of cost. That’s why I think it will be very important for the industrialized world to collaborate very closely with the developing world so that the rich countries do not just export old, obsolete, and dirty technologies.”
As a result of pollution, we can expect higher costs of health care in the future, not to mention the added costs of cleaning up our water, and protecting our food supply. Scientists are telling us that in the long run, we’ll save money and our natural resources by doing what it takes to clean up air pollution now.
Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.
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