May 21, 2016 2 min read

Reading the May 7 letter to the editor from Emily Minor discussing the “big picture” about fossil-fuel extraction brought me to a starkly different conclusion, namely the consequences of anthropogenic global warming.

Think about the massive fire and evacuation of 80,000 people from the oil sands area of Alberta, Canada, and the extreme weather patterns occurring in the United States and around the world, all of which are tied to the extraction and use of fossil fuels. Even a 2015 Department of Defense report stated “climate change is a security risk.”

A big picture includes transitioning to a truly independent, stable renewable energy future that would create a healthier, safer world with more jobs than those from the boom-and-bust, dangerous fossil-fuel oligopoly. Now that’s an economy we Southwestern Pennsylvanians can be “prahd of,” to use Pittsburghese.

Imagine not evacuating thousands of people due to a methane leak, not extinguishing massive pipeline explosions, or not sending our young people to fight for the control of oil-producing Middle-East countries. Imagine not adding more fracking-waste ponds full of toxic water that taxpayers will eventually have to remediate.

Also, regarding Minor’s implication that John Smith, an attorney for South Strabane Township, is greedy, his prioritizing the well-being of all Pennsylvanians over profit is an altruistic breath of fresh air. Moreover, both he and his wife, the attorney Kendra Smith, have done a great deal of pro bono work to assist people who have become sickened from the ill effects of fracking. May Minor never need the Smiths’ generous and important services.

B.J. Campbell

Burgettstown