This week, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article describing a study that concludes that smog kills thousands of Americans every year. These thousands are just those Americans who die a premature death due to the direct effects of smog. In addition to this number, the study cites an even higher number of Americans who are sent to the hospital because asthma attacks, heart problems and infections caused by smog. Many of those Americans die as a result of these problems.
Gosh. Every year, smog kills more Americans than terrorism does. One would think that George W. Bush would stop in his tracks and redirect his attention to fighting smog. Instead, Bush is promising to make smog worse.
You see, Bush says that he wants to do for America what he did for Texas. The truth is that the smog in Texas is the worst in the country. Houston’s own conservative hometown paper acknowledges that the Texas city’s air is even worse than the air in Los Angeles. In fact, Houston has been unable to meet basic clear air requirements for several years. Federal law states that if Houston does not meet those requirements by 2007, it will face special sanctions, including the loss of federal highway funds. Later this year, watch for the Republican Congress and the Bush Administration to end that requirement.
In the Republicans’ vision for America, smog is just part of the natural landscape. In the Republicans’ vision for America, the landscape kills.
New research indicates that even short term exposure to smog shortens lifespan… that means it kills you early!