Letter: We should heed dirty air alert while we can

Friday, Jan. 22, 1999 | 10:04 a.m.

When I returned, it didn't seem so bad, but I knew better. When you're living in filth, I guess you get used to it.

We are the frogs sitting in a slowly warming pot of gases that will lead to our eventual asphyxiation. The most susceptible among us, sufferers of pulmonary diseases like asthma, are the canaries in our coal mine. They are telling us that it is time to replace fossil fuels with something less harmful.

We must find a transitional fuel, like liquid natural gas, as we research new ways to harness renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy for a burgeoning population which will be 6 billion by this time next year.

The corporations will howl at this, you know, as they continue to wager their profits against our survival on the planet. If they didn't suffer so from tunnel vision they'd realize that greater profit will accrue to any company who has courage and brains enough to chart a clean future.

Here's some food for thought: We must renew financial incentives for individuals who'll be willing to make dramatic changes. How about cutting in half our state sales tax for every registered car owner who will convert his or her car over to cleaner natural gas.

If we do not listen now, and take decisive action, the message that is being repeated all over the world will fulfill its prophecy. It is the message of our extinction.

Our pollution levels have remained high since late last year with few exceptions.

Tim Anderson

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