Commissioner: Robert Arnold, PhD
“… a clean environment can’t play second to economic growth.”
Robert Arnold is Professor, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona
Why did you decide to join the Global Commission on Pollution + Health?
The Commission wanted a water person and I’ve never had a nicer group of people to work with.
What impact will the work of the Commission have?
The report emphasizes that a clean environment can’t play second to economic growth. The need for a new growth model is pretty evident.
How can we overcome obstacles to progress in the fight against pollution? What changes do you hope to see in your lifetime?
Rely on the facts. The truth will set you free. I would like California to achieve universal clean energy by 2045 (basically, I’d like to live that long). For the moment, an ethic that brings the US universal health care would be acceptable.
The Commission on Pollution and Health is an initiative of The Lancet, the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with coordination from the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank. Commissioners include many of the world’s leading researchers and practitioners in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and sustainable development.
