Like many of you, I have found COVID19 to be a financial wake-up call. Who would have thought that physicians and front-line workers in the midst of a pandemic would be finding their jobs at risk and their salaries cut? The US healthcare system has many problems, and COVID19 is laying those bare. It is also revealing the financial insecurity that is prevalent in our communities. Many of us are re-evaluating our financial plans, investments, etc. I’m trying to become a better steward of financial resources in my personal life, and I think this crisis has shown all of us that our government needs to make better choices about where it invests our dollars as well. There are many on-line calculators out there to play around with determining the Return on Investment (ROI) of various places you can put your money. Historically, the stock market yields around 10%, which is considered one of the better investments out there. I am always insisting that investing in clean air, whether investing in getting the air clear of tobacco or traffic-related air pollution, is a good investment. Let’s take the following example of the costs and benefits of the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Air Act naysayers were right about how expensive it would be- it cost half a trillion dollars to implement all the Clean Air Act restrictions from 1970 to 1990. Those were taxpayer, personal and business dollars. They were real. But you know what? The monetized benefits alone came out to 22.2 trillion dollars (range of 5.6 to 49.4 trillion). I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for a good ROI, and finding things in the 5-10% range is supposed to be excellent. Check out the ROI calculator at the top of this page and below for what the we in the US got back by investing that ½ trillion in Clean AIr.
Wouldn’t you jump at the chance for a 12%-25% ANNUALIZED return for a 20 year return of 1,000% to 9,780%?! Talk about achieving financial independence! This benefits all of us. We don’t have roaring economies despite clean air laws. We get roaring economies because of clean air laws.
Advocacy about cleaning up the air is always greeted by choruses of “Oh but the economy!” generally by people who have been polluting as part of their business or personal model, including those of us for whom it has been cheaper or more convenient to burn fuel to move around rather than finding alternatives. This is a fair concern. If it has been part of a business model to pollute for free, that is a real concern that needs to be addressed. First, we have to acknowledge that polluting the air costs real dollars, real lives and is not free. Somebody pays for it, generally all of us, and often especially those least able to afford it. We need to recognize this and price it in to the cost of doing business. Second, we need to remind everyone that investing in clean air leads to a huge economic benefit to all of us, likely dwarfing the costs of losing the ability to pollute for free. Healthy air is really a win-win for everyone.
Invest in clean air = $$$$
This is why I have a section of the website called “Invest,” and have covered this information there. You can invest your time, your money, or even your body by wearing a T shirt or drinking out of a mug that advocates for clean air.
Using your time to advocate directly is important- I cover why this is on the Invest your Time page. Short on time? You can invest your money with (aka donate to) the clean air organizations on the Invest/Donate page, who often have their own lobbyist doing their best. You could also become a walking billboard for healthy air, sharing information with your friends, colleagues, community and on social media just by going about your day. Sadly, health information is often not enough to move the needle. Lawmakers and policymakers are like the rest of us- stressed out about where the money is coming from and where it is going. Make sure policymakers and your fellow community members know that investing in clean air leads to massive economic benefits. Here are a couple examples, and check out the Wealth section for more. Listen to each podcast as well, because we always touch on the cost of inaction on clean air in each episode.
References:
Benefits and Cost of the Clean Air Act 1997-1990- Retrospective Study
Calculator from Calculator.net- ROI calculator
