The state of our air could be better with solar

One question I am often asked is, “why does the Lung Association care about energy policy?” As CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast, I hope to soon reach the point where more people know the answer to that question than have to ask it.  For us, solar energy, and energy production as a whole, is a pressing health concern that everyone should care about. Traditional sources of energy like coal are major producers of harmful air pollution, which in late 2013 was declared a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. The Lung Association sees solar energy as a way to reduce air pollution including particle pollution and ozone.

The effects of both particle pollution and ozone can be seen in our just released, annual State of the Air Report. Two Massachusetts counties (Bristol and Dukes) received failing grades for high ozone days.  No county in Massachusetts received better than a “C” for ozone, the health impacts of which can be felt as a sunburn so to speak on your lungs during high ozone days.

The report also highlights some of the vulnerable populations most at risk  from unhealthy air pollution. This includes people with asthma, those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), children, and the elderly. Every megawatt of energy we can convert from unhealthy sources like coal to cleaner sources like solar will go a long way towards our organization’s overarching goal of having safe and healthy air in every county nationwide. Until then, the American Lung Association will be fighting for our air.