Air pollution:

Air pollution. It is the killer of millions, and it is the worst where the weakest people live. But when we demand regulations and enforcement, air pollution can be significantly reduced.

 Why do we need to pay constant attention to the air pollution they deserve?

It is difficult to imagine different places from Delhi, India. Mexico City, Mexico; And Gary, Indiana. Many years later I visited these cities, they are forever etched in my memory for a reason: the dirty, polluted air made my scenery disturbing. The pollution was so heavy that you could see it roaming the interior of modern buildings (Delhi, 2016), feeling it sticking in your eyes (Mexico City, 1972), and closing it with car windows ( Gary (1960s)

Despite its prevalence, or perhaps because of it, air pollution has hardly received the attention it deserves. It is a matter of outrage, despite the fact that air pollution is a global killer, causing 7 million premature deaths each year. But it is also an opportunity, because it is an environmental issue that we can fix.

No other example is better than the experience of the United States, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act last year. Signed by President Richard Nixon on December 31, 1970, this single law reduced the country's air pollution by 77%. It has prolonged the lives of millions of Americans, saved billions of dollars, and made it "the most powerful public health law enacted in the 20th century," according to Paul Billings of the American Lung Association.

One of us of a certain age can remember the effects of this with great intensity. Think of Los Angeles 50 years ago, or Pittsburgh, or many other places where the horizon was and your car rolled overnight. In Billings' words, the Clean Air Act has been a "difference-maker," which has made the "air quality" of many American communities much better, and much better in other parts of the world.

Air pollution is causing disproportionate damage to the poor and people of color where they live, which is the worst. Environmentalist Mustafa Santiago Ali says the Clean Air Act "survives, but is damaged," after four years of clean administration by the US administration.

Although there will be challenges, Ali believes it is time to shed light on the Act's achievements. "You have a new generation that understands how important it is to have clean air," he says. "I hope we will soon reach a point in our history where we not only understand the importance of [the Act], but we are willing to work hard to increase it."