This article highlights
the cost-effectiveness of subsidizing modern stoves (such as gas or electric) in order to phase out solid fuels like firewood and dung. The devastating effect of indoor
pollution from solid fuels has been thoroughly documented by the WHO. In one of my lab activities (2-5: Risk Factors
and Health Outcomes in Africa) students compile raw data from the WHO interactive website. This culminates in a graph with solid fuel use on the x-axis and childhood deaths from acute
lower respiratory infection on the y-axis. The sample graph below is based on the most
recently available data. Each dot represents a country in Africa:
Some may resent my citing an article by Bjorn Lomborg due to his lukewarm stance on global
warming. I have read his 2001 bestseller, “The Skeptical Environmentalist” and assigned some portions of the book to my students (along with portions
of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and Jared Diamond’s “Collapse”). Even though
I disagree with some of Lomborg’s cost analysis (particularly with regards to the price of reducing nutrient runoff from farms) his level-headed approach to discussing some of the most contentious environmental issues deserves a fair hearing.
