Full Frame In-Depth: Clearing the Air

Full Frame

From Los Angeles to Beijing, air pollution is a major health threat in the world’s large cities. Research shows that residents of cities with bad air quality are 20% more likely to suffer from lung disease and heart attacks.

Full Frame In-Depth: Clearing the Air

Can taking personal responsibility for our impact on the environment make a global impact? Full Frame posed this question to: David Pettit, Senior Attorney at the Natural Resource’s Defense Council and Director of the organization’s Southern California Air Program Dominique Smith, Director of the US Green Builders Council.

In fact, Asia is the fastest growing continent in terms of increasing air pollution and the deaths cause by related illnesses.

Can taking personal responsibility for our impact on the environment make a global impact?

Full Frame posed this question to:

David Pettit believes there are viable solutions to the air pollution problem in Beijing but change will require a concerted effort from various agencies in China.  He told CCTV America’s Mike Walter, “I think that if the government really cracked down on polluters, people in Beijing could see significant improvement in air quality within a year.”

There are many countries that have already taken substantial action to reduce their impact on the environment by embarking on large-scale “green building” projects, according to Dominique Smith.

“We’re seeing a huge trend in the UK, Germany, Norway, Singapore, Brazil, Australia and South Africa,” Smith said. “Those countries are all seeing huge gains in construction starts.”