As I was taking the train in to work this morning enjoying a cup of coffee, my Blackberry and a Wall Street Journal, a man sat next to me reeking of smoke. 

I got off the train and starting walking down Park Avenue to our offices and the person in front of me was smoking with the wind blowing the smoke in my face. 

Smokers hovered around the entrance to our building casting fumes around the entrance–a phenomenon repeated throughout the streets Manhattan as smoking is no longer allowed indoors.

I then took the elevator up to the office and the elevator reeked of smoke as one of the people in the elevator who had been smoking out front wheezed away.

So much of the discourse now on the environment is focused on Global Warming caused by hydrocarbons.  Let’s not forget about a more personal kind of pollution–the smoke that kills smokers and makes an otherwise pleasant trip into the office so unpleasant and unhealthy for non-smokers.

Why should it be incomprehensible as it seems to many that governments are not taking Global Warming more seriously when individuals still smoke despite the fact that the warnings about the dangers of smoking have been around so much longer and, with the exception of the tobacco industry, there are few (including smokers) who do not find the dangers to be irrefutable.

I have two indelible images from my childhood that make it inconceivable for me to consider lighting up.

As a child growing up in Boston, I was treated to the radio calls of Johnny Most calling yet another successful Celtics season (for those of you who are under 30, the Celtics used to have good teams). Johnny was the classic homer— every foul called on a Celtic was undeserved and every foul not called on an opponent was a crime.  What made his impact even stronger was his raspy voice caused from years of smoking.  An example of one of his historic calls: “Now there’s a steal by Bird!  Underneath to DJ who lays it in!!…Right at one second left!! What a play by Bird! Bird stole the inbounding pass, laid it up to DJ, and DJ laid it up and in, and Boston has a one-point lead with one second left! OH, MY, THIS PLACE IS GOING CRAZY!!!

But as the effects of lung disease set in, Johnny was forced to retire.  He eventually had both of his legs amputated.  The Celtics kept a special spot for Johnny, his wheelchair, and his oxygen tank on the floor behind the basket at the Boston Garden.  Upon seeing this myself in person, I was struck by how sadly he had become a shell of himself.  And then to my amazement, he lit up a cigarette and stuck it into his breathing tube through a hole in his neck.

Closer to home, my grandfather lived with my family the last 6 years of his life.  He smoked multiple packs of unfiltered cigarettes each day for over 60 years.  His strong heart from a life of hard work kept him alive despite the deterioration of his lungs.  All those years he knew that he would eventually suffocate to death– and he ultimately did.

So while we are busy saving the environment by stopping Global Warming, I hope that one day I can come into work without smoke in my face and see ALL of my family, friends and colleagues live longer, healthier lives.