A plan has been suggested that is vitally important to the future of this planet at its current state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last week a battery of measures to slice the amount of air pollutants in half.

The plan would reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOC) by 49 percent by limiting the amount of solvents in paint and spray cans, requiring more efficient emission control equipment in cars and trucks and requiring gas stations to install equipment to collect fumes from gas pumps.

It could be argued that the EPA’s actions would attempt to regulate private business. Factories, steel mills and refineries might be required to install additional equipment to reduce VOC emissions.

These measures could increase gasoline prices by a few cents a gallon. The EPA has stamped a $100 million price tag on these measures—a hefty sum to be sure, but not when one considers the alternative.

A price tag cannot be placed on the quality of the air that we breathe, the water that our children will drink and the ground that our grandchildren will walk on. We must invest in the future, and the opportunity has arisen to do so.

The EPA plan will take some money out of our pockets, and nobody likes that. But the effort to reduce pollutants that are becoming more harmful each day is priceless.