How Much Should We Pay for Clean Air and Water?
How much do we value clean air and water?
Because air and water exist naturally and seem to be in abundance, we tend to consider them as resources to be had at any time, in any amount we choose.
But in places where air pollution is a problem, where smog hangs like a heavy fabric that obscures the view, where those with respiratory illnesses suffer, where water "tastes funny," how much would we be willing to pay to get clean air and water?
According to an article in the EMagazine, not much at all, at least, not enough, is being spent to ensure that the air we breathe and the water we drink are clean.
In a perfect world that isn't polluted by industrial wastes that enter both the air and water supply, we won't even need to think about paying for either clean air or water; but seeing that industrialization has just taken off exponentially in certain countries, and seeing that the earth is a closed system in which air and water quality in one country affects that of another country, it appears that we need to be willing to do two things to improve the quality of our lives and health: 1) do what we can to reduce pollution, and 2) pay what we can manage, to clean up the existing pollution.
Follow Technorati