I honestly think this is a conservative analysis because there are so many elements of the health costs of breathing particulate matter that we have yet to quantify. For example, in the current COVID19 pandemic, we are increasingly learning about the potential interaction of air pollution worsening transmission and severity of the virus. As someone in Oregon watching cases rise again around a month or so after our heavy smoke filled air, I think this is very plausible. 

When your job is like mine, and every day you have to see people who are sick and dying from diseases caused or worsened by combustion of everything from tobacco to diesel, it is a real challenge to stay hopeful. It is particularly hard when there is a failure of collective action- nobody wants to take responsibility for the particulate matter they emit in their personal lives or their businesses. We think the costs should be borne by everyone else as a “cost of doing business.” And that is true to some extent- after all, we need food and medication delivered. But we should all have a say in how much pollution we are willing to tolerate and what we want our different tax dollars and incentives to fund. We also want to ensure we are incentivizing businesses and people that find ways to not pollute the air for profit or pleasure. For me, I want my community to invest in clean air so we save more lives and health. I see the faces of all my patients, and it is a strong motivator. Other countries, like Norway, have used incentives to have electric vehicles now comprise over 60% of their new cars sold, and electric vehicles are cheaper for working families over the long-term, another win-win for health and the economy. I hope this analysis helps people who have not met my patients, or have not (yet) met me as a lung doctor, understand another way that investing in clean air is a smart investment for our communities, our children, and our own wealth.