Global Warming

As a toxicologist working for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, I have become increasingly aware that the biggest environmental concern of the general populous has little to do with the chemicals and air pollutants that I study so intently every day. Not one of my neighbors, friends, or relatives has ever asked me how this chemical or that chemical affects their health. Instead, the question I’m most often asked, by a large margin, is “what do you think about global warming?” To be honest, I doubt they really care about what I think. What they probably mean is “what does the big, powerful, and influential USEPA think about global warming?” For the answer to that latter question I refer them to the USEPA website, www.epa.gov/climatechange. But after pushing the big red button on my desk that chimes “that was easy,” I start feeling a bit guilty.