Dave, from the Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center e-mailed me recently to discuss another cost of fossil fuels. I thought you’d be interested in what he had to say.

While the consequences of destructive energy policies have been thoroughly covered by national media outlets in recent years, some of the most destructive practices have gone relatively uncovered. Indeed, we all are aware of the cost of fuel, the disappearing rainforest, and dying manatees, but are we aware of perhaps the most dangerous environmental flaw? Undoubtedly, this flaw is within the fossil fuel industry.

Fossil fuel energy is an expensive and finite resource, but for now we are handcuffed to it. The burning of fossil fuels certainly compromises the ozone layer, but what other price are we paying? Some would be alarmed to know that the fossil fuel industry is among the world’s leading proponents of asbestos use. Asbestos? Many believe asbestos was a problem of the past. However, while asbestos was banned in the late 1970’s as a known toxin by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, asbestos fixtures still exist in nearly all facets of industry, and notably within the fossil fuel business.

Asbestos was used to line piping and boilers in coal plants and oil refineries. Over time these compounds break down, leaving the asbestos in the air supply. When inhaled, asbestos is extremely hazardous and can cause anything from a chronic cough to pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lung’s lining. However, that is not to say that mesothelioma and respiratory complications are the only hazards of the fossil fuel industry, which also accounts for the most reported cases of benzene exposure.

We must realize, as a nation, that our policies today are affecting not only the future of this planet but also today’s industrial workers. There is a way out of fossil fuel energy and we must find it before we cost not only the planet for our children but the lives of our workers.