On this 38th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22), several articles in this issue address the importance of environmental sustainability in our practice as anesthesiologists. Why does this matter? There is no question that the health sector, which runs 24/7, consumes significant amounts of energy and natural resources, generates alarming amounts of waste, and is a major contributor to pollution in the United States and globally. Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and death in the world today, responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths.1 That makes pollution prevention part of the doctor’s duty to “first, do no harm.”
The U.S. health care sector contributes nearly 10 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions. If it were a nation itself, it would rank 13th in the world for greenhouse gas emissions. It also emits a significant fraction of other environmental emissions, including 12 percent of acidification, 10...