X-Message-Number: 18718 Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 19:56:14 -0800 From: Kennita Watson <> Subject: Re: COSTS OF SOLVING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS From a recent Cryonet: COSTS OF SOLVING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS One argument of Bjorn Lomborg's book, "The Skeptical Environmentalist," is that it is not cost efficient to spend money on certain environmental problems. He cites a Harvard University study comparing the cost efficiency of various life-saving initiatives.... Cost per Initiative life-year saved Federal law requiring smoke detectors in homes < $0 Reduced lead content of gasoline from 1.1 gram to 0.1 gram per leaded gallon < $0 ... Low-cholesterol diet for men age 30 $19,000 Improve basic driver training $20,000 ... Today I received this: A friend of mine had the following to say about this. The figures ignore cumulative effects (eg: benzene control) the effects of benzene in the environment build up with each exposure. As a result the negative effects are not always noticeable until many years later. A good book to read that explores this issue is _Living Downstream_ by Sandra Steingraber. and That book and writer [the ones cited in Kennita's article, not the one my friend cited] are somewhat well known as apologists for the *anti* environmental movement. --Michelle Comments, please. Am I being shortsighted and poisoning a planet that I'm going to have a use for for a long time? -- May you live long and prosper, Kennita -- Kennita Watson | Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; | None but ourselves can free our minds. http://www.kennita.com | -- Bob Marley, "Redemption Song" Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18718