Even Oil and Gas Tycoons Get Asthma

Here's one from the weekend. Michael Smith, who "made his fortune in the oil and gas industry," is sinking millions into helping National Jewish Medical and Research Center build a new lab and clinic.

His reason? He has asthma.

Don't get us wrong, Michael Smith's investment is a wonderful opportunity for National Jewish and promises hope for those who suffer. He obviously knows firsthand what it is like to not just have asthma, but to have qualified physicians who know how to help. He should be commended for helping others have the same. But isn't this all so classic?

We spend so much in this country researching and treating illnesses after they happen, but so little in actually preventing them in the first place. Just take a look at asthma. All the research shows that ozone pollution, a burgeoning problem throughout the west, is linked to asthma attacks and might even cause asthma at high levels.

Yet how much money is actually going toward reducing ozone air pollution in the west? We'll tell you firsthand, it's not much. Not surprisingly, for places like Denver, ozone pollution is just getting worse.

But this isn't about how much money advocacy efforts should be receiving. In fact, while National Jewish requires millions just to treat asthma, advocacy groups like Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action need thousands at most. No, this is about priorities.

Preventing respiratory illnesses is just as important as treating them and what's more, it's usually a lot cheaper. Talk about a penny of prevention being worth a pound of cure, reducing air pollution is probably the best investment anyone who cares about respiratory health could ever make.

We need National Jewish there to provide the best respiratory treatment in the world, but we also need to clean up our air. Care to lend any support, Mr. Smith?