Forbes just released its list of the most and the least toxic cities in America. Atlanta is pretty contaminated with Detroit, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and LA making the toxic list also. Las Vegas is the least toxic. It’s not surprising. The cities that are toxic have a lot of factory producing pollution and LA is known for its smog. It’s going to cost to clean them up. According to the article on Forbes website: “Cleaning up these cities is neither easy nor cheap. The Environmental Protection Agency expects that it will cost $10.5 billion in federal money in 2010 to improve the U.S. environment’s health in general and to craft clean energy solutions.”
But what about cities like New York that made the least toxic list? What are they doing right? Mayor Bloomberg of New York is in a race to be the greenest city in the country. New York already has a head start since most people there use mass transit to get around, not their car. And taxis and buses went hybrid long ago. I did a blog about New York’s “greening” in 2007. http://www.blogsmonroe.com/world/2007/10/ann-arbor-adds-new-hybrid-buses-new-york-city-is-number-one-in-energy-efficiency/.
If New York can do it, other cities can clean up too. If we continue to advance toward a cleaner future the toxicity levels we are experiencing will lessen, there will be less immunodeficiency diseases from overload at every level–air, water, food, and pharmaceuticals. Cleaning up is greening up. It means a healthier life for every living thing.
Read the list: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/02/toxic-cities-pollution-lifestyle-real-estate-toxic-cities.html.