Breathable air, drinkable water, safe food, and protective shelter from the elements - these are the only things we need to survive.

But most of us want to do more than just survive. We want reliable transportation, decent clothes, a home with furniture and an occasional meal out. Most of us in the industrialized world desire even more. We want a television (or two), along with a VCR and DVD player, a nice car, a cell phone, fax machine, computer, magazines, books, compact discs, and the list goes on.

To be sure, I’m not above the fray. I have each one of the items I’ve just listed.

Last night there was a story on the local news about air pollution and the impact lowering the speed limit would have on improving it. On the segment, Jane Laping from Mothers for Clean Air was interviewed, as were several politicians and activists. While I’m no expert in the science that arrived at the conclusion, I will state that I agree that the majority of pollution in the Houston area comes from manufacturing and chemical processing facilities in the area.

But let me be clear about this. We need to separate the source of the pollution from the cause of the pollution.

I’m looking around my desk as I write this. I see a laser printer, a telephone, PalmPilot, cell phone, removable hard drives and their device, a rolodex, pictures of my daughter, my laptop (a Macintosh, thank you very much), a keyboard and mouse, and my desk itself – one of those wonderful high tech cubicles with highly polished black metal and fabric panels and some kind of wood laminate on the surface. I would wager that most, if not all, of the materials that went into making these items were produced by an industrial plant that impacts the quality of air we breathe.

Yes, “industry” may be the source of the majority of the nitrogen oxides that put Houston into the smog non-attainment category, but it is each of us, and our desire to surround ourselves with these products, that gives industry its mandate to continue business as usual.

So, while we’re stuck in stop and go traffic this afternoon on the way home from work, talking on our cell phones, anticipating that microwaved popcorn while watching the just-released DVD of The Last Waltz, we can look up and see that new 55 mph sign, and bask in the knowledge that each of us is responsible for his or her own decisions.