engleză
We will not find exposure to burning coal listed as the cause of death on a single death certificate, but tens of thousands of deaths from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and other illnesses are clearly linked to coal-derived pollution. As politicians and advertising campaigns extol the virtues of clean coal, the dirty secret is that coal kills. In The Silent Epidemic, Alan Lockwood, a physician, describes and documents the adverse health effects of burning coal. Coal fueled the industrial revolution and has become a major source of energy in virtually every country. Lockwoods straightforward description of coal as a health hazard is especially timely, given the barrage of marketing efforts to promote coal as part of energy independence. His message is clear and urgent: Coal-fired plants make people sick and die, particularly children and those with chronic illnesses, and they cost society huge amounts of money desperately needed for other purposes.
