Clean air should be a human right. That should include pollutants from smoking, pollutants from automobiles, and pollutants from industry and commerce. It’s not a question of one or another.
Lack of clean air is one of the biggest markers of social inequality, and it demonstrably leads to higher rates of respiratory illnesses and earlier deaths for lower-income people who are often forced to live and work in polluted environments with unclean air. It takes a toll on the body over time.
Even just seeing statistics like how asthma rates among children have decreased in places that have banned the sale of gas stoves…like, it shouldn’t be a debate. Whatever people want to do to their own lungs, fine, but given that air is shared by everyone, it should be permitted only in private, where no one else is sharing the same air. It’s not about whether one has a right to smoke or drive wherever they want, but whether one has the right to infringe upon the right of others. The right to health.
Clean air should be a human right. That should include pollutants from smoking, pollutants from automobiles, and pollutants from industry and commerce. It’s not a question of one or another.
Lack of clean air is one of the biggest markers of social inequality, and it demonstrably leads to higher rates of respiratory illnesses and earlier deaths for lower-income people who are often forced to live and work in polluted environments with unclean air. It takes a toll on the body over time.
Even just seeing statistics like how asthma rates among children have decreased in places that have banned the sale of gas stoves…like, it shouldn’t be a debate. Whatever people want to do to their own lungs, fine, but given that air is shared by everyone, it should be permitted only in private, where no one else is sharing the same air. It’s not about whether one has a right to smoke or drive wherever they want, but whether one has the right to infringe upon the right of others. The right to health.