At a time when climate change is impacting the world in increasingly direct and catastrophic ways, why is there no discussion of the egregious waste of resources and contribution to air pollution that an event like Chicago’s upcoming NASCAR race represents?
More than the inconvenience of closed-off streets and the noise pollution that will fill downtown for several days running, this is the concern that should really be addressed. We’re not just “fiddling” — we’re stoking the flames while Rome burns (and chokes to death).
David G. Whiteis, Humboldt Park
Leaving Chicago to avoid NASCAR
Sometime this summer I need to visit Nebraska. The time is approaching when July 1-2 will be perfect, to avoid the NASCAR chaos in downtown Chicago.
The idea that we gave over our streets and parks to this group, over Independence Day weekend no less, is mind-boggling. Chicago will not be going green during this race.
Nebraska will be clean, quiet and safe.
What can Mayor Brandon Johnson do to get us out of this disaster next year?
Steven J. Bahnsen, Bronzeville
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Fight air pollution from trucks
This dense soup of smog that’s causing our eyes to water and asthma to flare is not just a one-off because Canada is happening to have wildfires. As the Sun-Times pointed out in a recent editorial, there are many contributors to our air pollution, and they’re not going away on their own. One of them is diesel exhaust.
The many organizations that make up the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition have been trying for months to get Gov. J.B. Pritzker to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule to phase out most gasoline-powered heavy trucks by 2036. A growing number of states on the East and West coasts have signed onto this. Why haven’t we?
Even when there are no fires (and, make no mistake, there will be more), the Chicago area’s air quality is often unhealthy. We just don’t see it. But it’s aggravating heart and lung diseases and causing more premature deaths.
Another contributor to air pollution is the CTA, which is slower than many cities in switching its buses to electric. We’re missing out on federal money that other cities are getting.
There are, of course, many causes of air pollution — power plants, land use, construction and gasoline cars among them.
Ultimately, the answer is to electrify everything and get our electricity from renewables like solar, wind and geothermal.
Cynthia Linton, communications chair, The Climate Reality Project — Chicago Metro Chapter
