Wood Smoke---Not Greener---Letter to the Editor

Voice of the People
Letter to the Editor
Chicago Tribune Newspaper
October 2, 2008

Wood Smoke...Greener?

By holding up a person who uses a wood stove to heat his house as "Chicago's greenest person," the Tribune encourages behavior that would create an unmitigated public health disaster if widely adopted ("Chicago's green giant; Tempo went hunting for the Chicagoan who has the lowest carbon footprint; We found him: Ken Dunn, who rides his bike year-round, eats homegrown vegetables and otherwise leads a sustainable lifestyle," Tempo, Sept. 23).

Wood smoke is deadly. Encouraging the use of wood for home heating under the guise of "being green" will hurt hundreds of thousands of people with lung and heart conditions.

Much as it was 100 years ago, thousands of preventable deaths would occur if wood heating became widespread.

Brian Urbaszewski Director, Environmental Health Program, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago .

Web Master note--We were surprised that the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago (formerly known as the Chicago Lung Association) has finally acknowledged the wood smoke health crisis facing Chicago, Illinois, and the nation.
In the past, we contacted the Chicago, Illinois, and national American Lung Association regarding their efforts and plans to alert the public and elected officials about the deadly effects of wood smoke emissions. Their response was that wood smoke was not on their agenda and ignored our request for help on this issue. We appreciate Mr. Urbaszewski’s letter. Maybe the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society will finally join us in our efforts to improve the quality of life of millions, and help prevent the lives of hundreds of thousands being destroyed by wood smoke emissions. We can only hope!