With Earth Day just around the corner, recall the forest fires that burned throughout the western United States and Canada last year, producing miserable air conditions in Pocatello? According to the World Health Organization 9 out of 10 people worldwide regularly breathe polluted air.

Imagine living year-round in the kind of smoke and particulate matter we experienced last summer, especially knowing much of the world already breathes more polluted air.

I used to think the end of humanity would come from a nuclear holocaust. Due to recent travels I think we are going to poison ourselves to death. If we continue polluting the world at the current pace we are likely doomed from self-inflicted folly.

Sorry to be so cheery, but what is it about humanity that makes us so short-sighted? Do we really think we can continue to pour endless amounts of poison into our air and water in the name of short-term profits and not pay a severe price? The Trump administration clearly prefers immediate economic gratification over the long-term benefits of environmental protection.

A chilling article by Sarah Gibbens for National Geographic dated February 1, 2019, details 15 ways Trump and his cohorts are loosening environmental regulations nationwide, all in the name of making money, money, money. Congratulations corporate polluters — stuff your pockets while you increase the pace at which you are killing your fellow Americans and destroying our environment.

The last two times I visited the Grand Canyon the views were awful — I thought I was looking at brown-aired Los Angeles. According to the National Park Service the primary sources for air pollution in the park are coal-fired plants in the Four Corners region, nearby mining, and urban and industrial pollution from nearby states and Mexico.

Overpopulation, poverty, a lack of education and greed play large parts in the pollution problem. Chiapas, Mexico, where I have volunteered the last two winters is the poorest area in the country. It has serious issues with water pollution (streams can be open sewers), and the national government does little to ensure the region solves the problem.

A recent visit to Kathmandu in Nepal disturbed me as I had imagined a place with crisp, magical views of the Himalayas. Those stunning vistas can be found if you leave Kathmandu, but the city and other parts of Nepal are choking in air and water pollution. Poverty is a key factor along with overpopulation, numerous vehicles, earthquake caused reconstruction and poor roads.

According to The Times of India, the country soon to have the largest population in the world is one of the worst polluted places on earth. The newspaper cited the World Health Organization’s finding that 14 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are found in India.

One in eight deaths in India now occurs due to air pollution, and there has been a shift from lung cancer deaths occurring in older males who smoke to women and children dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancers, with these conditions now being the second cause of death after heart disease. The toxic air is literally killing children.

The Center for Public Integrity points out that according to the E.P.A. one in four Americans lives within three miles of a contaminated site posing serious risks to human health and the environment.

This same article explains that contaminated air, water, and soil kill more people than smoking, hunger, natural disasters, war, aids and malaria combined.

The World Bank reports that air, land, and water pollution caused 9 million premature deaths in 2016, or 16 percent of all deaths worldwide. About 92 percent of all pollution related mortality is seen in low-income and middle-income countries, with the poor and the marginalized hardest hit by the health effects of contamination.

All countries generate pollution, and one of the biggest problems are greenhouse gases where climate change is concerned. Sustainability reports the world’s five worst green house gas polluters are China at 30 percent, the U.S. 15 percent, India 7 percent Russia 5 percent, and Japan at 4 percent with the balance attributed to the remaining countries.

The warming of the oceans occurring from these gases is scientifically documented, and it is having severe consequences from the killing of corals and marine life to the generation of extreme weather. Our reckoning day already appears at hand based upon disastrous worldwide weather patterns that are killing humans and destroying large amounts of property.

An article by Niall McCarthy in Forbes magazine March 21, 2017, reports 5 massive swaths of plastic exist in the world’s oceans containing 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic. Two million tons of new plastic bottles are manufactured annually worldwide, often ending up as pollution. Dead pregnant whales with their stomachs filled with plastic have washed up recently in Italy and the Philippines.

Not only poor countries are afflicted with the problems of pollution. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have the world’s most polluted air due to their petroleum industries. Greed apparently rules in these rich nations that are awash in oil money, although Qatar at least recently began investing in renewable energy sources and signed onto the Paris Climate Accord, the first universal attempt to reduce global warming (see the Dohka News report July 9, 2017).

All things that preserve life on this planet are interconnected through one biosphere. The oceans are part of that system and play a significant role in keeping us alive.

More simply put, not seeing the dead zones of the sea choked with plastic doesn’t mean that it won’t affect me, or the lives of those who come after me, and the helpless creatures already dying from our negligent treatment of the planet. And, not going to India isn’t enough to fully protect me from its deadly air pollution.

The entire connected world needs to get its act together regarding reducing pollution. Celebrating Earth Day won’t get the job done. The book Abundance — The Future is Better Than You Think, advocates that human creativity will be a positive force in reducing pollution worldwide while improving the human condition. I applaud the optimism, but protecting our environment has to be made an immediate top priority by governments worldwide if we are to keep this planet habitable.

Some light appeared on the horizon in 2015 towards possible reduction of greenhouse gases when 196 participating nations reached a consensus agreement at the Paris Climate Accord.

Donald Trump then unilaterally pulled the United States, the second worst greenhouse gas polluter, out of the most significant world initiative ever reached to reduce life threatening pollution. How can the rest of the world’s nations be expected to act responsibly when we set this kind of shallow example?

Those of us with a conscience realize that decisions about protecting the natural environment should involve more than just a financial calculation. Can you really assign a hard dollar amount to the preservation of our planet’s natural wonders, vital resources and scenic beauty or the maintenance of an environment that allows all living things to survive and have the opportunity to enjoy a healthy life?

We all have a stake in this situation, and every action you can take to reduce your pollution footprint should be taken. I must confess that I haven’t been responsible enough in the past to reduce my impact on this planet, but I aim to change.

My travels have convinced me we all need to reduce our use of plastics, to conserve resources, to avoid polluting water, to be smart about consolidating errands, and to take public transit wherever possible, etc. This burgeoning disaster, if it is to be averted, is the responsibility of everyone on the planet.

A friend of mine has worked as an environmental consultant, and he advised me humans typically address pollution concerns when the disaster hits them squarely in the face. He’s right, and it is in our face. The U.S. has over 1,300 Superfund sites where we allowed the environment to be poisoned all in the name of short term profits. We have one on the west end of Pocatello, and it is a toxic “contained” mess.

The sad thing about much of this pollution is that it often costs many magnitudes more to clean it up than it would have been to prevent or minimize it in the first place. The Congressional Budget Office in 1994 estimated it would take over 230 billion through 2070 (adjusting for inflation) to clean up the existing Superfund sites.

But the reality is many of the sites will never actually be cleaned up, but rather contained because it costs too much to return them to their original pristine condition, and this all assumes adequate funding is maintained to continue clean-up efforts.

Containment is exactly what is being done at the west end of Pocatello where the FMC Corporation is paying the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes millions in order to not have to clean up the property, but rather to corral it. Federal Judge Lynn Winmill actually had to order the recalcitrant Company to honor the terms of a contract it had breached with the Tribes to pay this annual deferment fee in lieu of restoration. The Judge in his decision pointed out the incredible amounts of money FMC was saving not having to clean up its mess.

Isn’t it time to take the long view and start protecting our world? Is it not worth the cost to have a planet with breathable air and clean water? These are rhetorical questions, and many of the costs associated with protecting our planet would be significantly less if we dealt with these issues initially rather than when irreparable damage has been done.

The Paris Climate Accord was the tip of a progressive iceberg that needs to be expanded upon. Our world needs people with vision to lead us in a concerted direction towards reducing all forms of pollution, and it is time for U.S. politicians to stop catering to special interests and greed because they are literally killing us in the process.

Trump’s administration is an ongoing disaster when it comes to protecting our environment. Do everything you can by the next election to end this man’s power to sacrifice our environment for short-term profiteering. The very air you breathe depends upon it.

Jesse Robison is a Pocatello native who has lived in Mexico and other places. He was educated at Idaho State University and University of Idaho. Robison works as a mediator and insurance law consultant, but his passion is public art. He has spearheaded numerous art improvements throughout Pocatello, including the Japanese garden located at Pocatello Regional Airport, and he serves on the Bistline Foundation. Robison currently resides in Pocatello.