Clean trucks mean healthier air
I belong to the Colorado Mountain Mamas, an organization that advocates for clean air, clean water, healthy food, sustainability, and safe natural areas so our kids can enjoy the outdoors; as can our grandkids, great-grandkids, and their great-great-grandkids … for seven generations.
Tragically, in its most recent “State of the Air” report, the American Lung Association gave Larimer County an ‘F’ for air quality. With a doctorate in wholistic healing/health, I can affirm that air pollution greatly contributes to asthma, lung cancer, COPD, shortness of breath, preterm births, and low birth weight. Low birth weight alone can lead to a host of problems, afflicting children for the rest of their lives. And the financial cost of all these health problems is astronomical.
One of the primary sources of air pollution is transportation, especially Interstate 25 and its nonstop flow of vehicles. However, there are already more than 200 models of zero emission heavy-duty trucks, buses, and delivery vans available in the U.S. There is currently a proposal to incentivize manufacturers of these vehicles to sell more of them. The clean truck proposals would cut health-harming transportation emissions by 90% by 2050.
The Mountain Mamas are advocating for a new plan through the Air Quality Control Commission to require manufacturers of heavy/medium duty vehicles to ensure that a certain percentage of their new sales are zero-emission vehicles. This proposal would go a long way toward cleaning up Colorado’s air pollution problem and reduce the exorbitant costs of treating the respiratory disorders and other health problems it creates.
To protect the health of everyone in our community, especially our youngest and oldest residents, and to save billions in health care costs, please help pass the Clean Truck proposal.
Dr. Victoria Gardner, Loveland
Watching Rep. Buck’s record on assault weapons
Partisanship and obedience to powerful lobbyists like the gun industry must not come before protection of our citizens, especially innocent children, from gun violence. As Rep. Buck’s constituent, I will be watching his voting record and public statements on the issue of assault weapons bans and sensible gun safety legislation.
None of our individual constitutional rights is absolute, including the Second Amendment. Each of our rights must be tempered with both our personal responsibilities and the effect of our behavior on others in our community. If Rep. Buck continues to toe the NRA line in Congress, I will do everything in my power to make sure that we have a representative in Congress who cares about the safety of his constituents more than the “contributions” of the gun lobby.
As a veteran who earned a sharpshooter medal with an M16, I know that weapons of war have no place in the hands of civilians, despite NRA propaganda to the contrary.
Joseph Mondello, Loveland