As if we didn't already have enough reasons to embrace alternative energy, we now have one more. A thorough study, which will be published in the near future in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that women living in cities with high levels of particulate matter have a 76% greater chance of developing heart disease than those who live in locales with less particulate matter. The study found that even with good genetics and lifestyle and an absence of other risk factors, particulate matter levels played a clear role in heart-related illness. Perhaps people will finally wake up to the fact that all of the particulate matter emanating from industry, including coal-fired power plants, can and does affect health. Yet, in many places, children are allowed to exercise outside when there are particulate matter alerts. If we want to protect women from this added risk, we had better take a look at the environment we are exposing them to, even at younger ages.

Too often it seems that people do not want to think of alternative energy as a way of protecting human health. Yet, the reality is, is that burning fossil fuels can create very unhealthy conditions. As we see from this study, such health effects are not just limited to respiratory problems. Perhaps with studies such as this one, people will realize that moving away from fossil fuels is about much more than energy independence.