Letter to the editor: Clean air should be a priority

I am writing in response to Sen. Kim Ward’s attack on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Senate Bill 950 and House Bill 2025 (“Now is not time for more taxes on electric, gas consumers,” Aug. 29, TribLIVE). It is extremely shortsighted to ignore the ongoing threats to our health posed by pollution. I recognize that many people are suffering because of the covid-19 restrictions and that many need help to take care of their families’ immediate costs. However, if we fail to protect Pennsylvania from big polluters, we will pay dearly, in dollars as well as in lives.

Allowing polluters to continue to contaminate our air without restraint shows Ward’s “reckless disdain for hard-working, blue-collar families.” Lung cancer, asthma and other pollution-related diseases will wreck families. The public health benefits associated with air quality improvements from RGGI have been estimated at nearly $6 billion between 2009 and 2014. Renewable, clean energy projects will provide tens of thousands of safer, better jobs for Pennsylvanians.

Dr. Marti Haykin

Unity