Air Pollution Question for President Obama at Delhi Town Hall

On Friday, December 1, I had the honor of attending the Obama Foundation’s first ever Town Hall with President Obama in New Delhi, India. I had a question prepared for him, but didn’t get an opportunity to ask among the nearly 300 young leaders invited to the event. But this is the question I had prepared for him:

Mr. President,

🙏 Aloha and Namaste!

My name is Amrit Sharma, and I’m the Founder of AirAirAir.org.

I have a question about something that all Delhi residents are unfortunately all to familiar with: air pollution.

Air pollution isn’t just a Delhi or India problem. It affects people around the world, including the United States. Nearly 7 million people die prematurely every year because of air pollution — with about 200,000 of those in the States.

I have a couple questions for you:

Do you believe that clean air is a basic human right?

Secondly: I, the people in this room, and billions around the world care about your well being and want you to take care. Mr. President, what are you doing to protect yourself against air pollution on this trip to New Delhi? It’s quite likely that your exposure to air pollution during these two days is higher than the rest of your year combined. The PM2.5 air pollution in Delhi today is more than 250µg/m3 which is more than 10 times higher than the WHO guideline for clean air.

I strongly believe that you should wear a face mask here in New Delhi — both to protect yourself and to raise the roof on air pollution awareness globally.

There are skinny kids with funny names around the world who have never had a breath of fresh air.

If Beyonce was Indian, in addition to singing about “Becky with the good hair” — she’d also sing about “Becky with the good air!”

If Jay-Z was Indian, his song wouldn’t be “Can I Live?” but instead “Can I Breathe?”

If rapper 50 cent was Indian, he’d face the same difficult choice that every Indian family that can afford it is considering. It’s not “get rich or die trying” but instead “go abroad or die breathing.”

Mahalo!