Since it's Earth Day, it's a good time to think about the environment. The environment includes the issues that affect people’s health, such as safety, school quality, access to jobs, and public transit, and water and air pollution. Air pollution increases the risk of many health conditions like asthma and cancer. Like so many environmental hazards, air pollution has been shown to have a disproportionate effect on children, elderly, and inner-city residents. Industrial urban areas like Cuyahoga County face even greater challenges in protecting air quality, however there have been advances. At the federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency found last week that carbon dioxide and five other industrial emissions represent a significant threat to public health and welfare, which opens up federal regulation of these gases, and shows an interest on the federal level to reduce air pollution.

At the same time, Congress is considering cap-and-trade legislation to reduce emissions by putting a cap on allowable levels and making those allowances tradable on the open market, with varying proposals on how to use cap-and-trade revenue to offset rising energy costs for households. Some worry that cap-and-trade would drive up energy and related costs in ways that low-income populations cannot afford. Others worry that if we don't reduce consumption, the price for energy will still increase quickly in addition to increased health care costs (for asthma, cancer, etc.) due to air pollution.