Letter to the editor: Wrong to give tax credits to frackers

As the government continues to defund education and environmental programs, I am losing hope for the future of my generation. Our air and water are polluted by fracking, placing communities across Western Pennsylvania at higher risk for cancer, yet our government plans to give money to the companies who may be at fault for our poor health.

House Bill 732, which just passed the General Assembly, will chain our state to the petrochemical industry for decades, allowing $670 million in tax credit subsidies for the fracking and petrochemical industries over the next 30 years. We need to end the funding of these cancer-causing corporations and focus on the health and education of the young people in our community.

Thank you, Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, and Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, for voting no on HB 732 and doing what’s best for your constituents. I hope our other legislators will follow suit and prioritize the health of Pennsylvanians.

Maylyn Torpey

Squirrel Hill