Fossil fuels fallout

Dear Editor:

RE: Tropes not truth (Oct. 31) and Maybe it’ll clear up (Nov. 28).

I want to thank Patrick Raftis for his recent excellent columns on climate change. We need more journalists to call out misleading or incorrect information when they see it, especially as it relates to climate change.

It is clear to me that no amount of thoughtful, peer reviewed scientific evidence is going to change the minds of die-hard climate change deniers. So perhaps it’s time to look at the adverse impact of fossil fuel use from a different perspective.

Right now, in Canada, there are about 1.3 million people who suffer from respiratory diseases. Air quality in and around our cities is less than ideal at the best of times but especially deteriorates during hot muggy summer days. During these episodes, those respiratory problems are made worse; some people have to see their doctor for medication, others end up in emergency wards, still others succumb and die. The young and elderly are most susceptible. All this adds an unnecessary burden to an already stressed health care system in this country.

The principal cause of these air pollution episodes is the burning of fossil fuels. Switching to cleaner forms of energy will alleviate this problem. Continuing to rely on dirty fuels will not.

Hopefully climate change deniers can look beyond their disproven theories and see the wisdom in cleaning up air pollution as a sound human health protection measure.

Victor Shantora, Oakville