Travis letter: Climate problems

I was thinking about the amount of pollution created by 800 members of Citizens Climate Lobby flying to Washington to persuade congressmen to adopt more environmental legislation. A lot of legislation has helped reduce the harm done by certain practices. I also wonder about how much fuel Air Force One has consumed in the last eight years, maybe a million gallons? Instead of using teleconferencing the president finds it more fun to press the flesh.

Instead of long-term climate problems, why don’t we think closer to home of the immediate problems facing us in the Ada County valley? This is a valley where one day this summer we had a yellow ozone alert. Public transportation is almost nonexistent. Where we live the bus service was a block away 15 years ago. We lived between Ustick and Northview before going down to Garden City. We have to walk a mile to take a bus.

With the tremendous increase in traffic since the beginning of the year and with the possibility of a bad inversion this winter, we may encounter serious health issues. I’ve lived in a city where the pollution got so bad that the ending number on your license plate determined whether or not you could drive that day.

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Travis letter: Climate problems."