Don Berwick on Environment

The air matters, the water matters; it's all a system

A: No. I wouldn't do this if I were only interested in healthcare. I'm interested in community, in working together--and that means small communities, not just statewide. I've been thinking more and more about what I call thriving or flourishing, or being the kind of community we want to be. That's not healthcare alone. Healthcare's got to be right, but everything triangulates on it. It's a system. Schools matter, roads matter, talent matters, the air matters, the water matters, and one of the wonderful things I think about is that if I get to be governor, I can work at that systemic level.

Clean our water & air, and push other states also

Let me explore here five environmental challenges in particular:
1. Adapting to Climate Change: I will appoint a Director for Climate Preparedness.
2. Cleaning Our Water: Now Boston Harbor is clean enough to swim in and development is booming along the waterfront. But while the harbor is a great success story, many of our other water bodies are getting more polluted, not cleaner.
3. Smart Management of Solid Waste: We have to stop thinking about what we throw out as waste and instead think of it as a resource.
4. Cleaning Our Air: Every state should demand that their manufacturers use the best available pollution-control technologies. We are doing our share in Massachusetts to make the air cleaner; the rest of the country should, too.
5. Moving toward Electric Vehicles: We need to push further ahead with electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are much cleaner than gasoline-fueled vehicles in both conventional air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.