Pollution and climate change are not left-right issues

My letter was published in the Post-Gazette on Nov. 12, 2016, which stated: “The system is rigged in favor of corporate donors.” Stinging from my Democratic Party’s defeat, I wrote about Republican corporate donors and the damaging effect Republican domination would have on our country. Time marches on.

Now, those Democratic Party leaders favoring continued corporate hegemony by the health care, financial and polluting petrochemical industries are terrified that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., or Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass., will win the Democratic primary. These corporate Democrats speak fine words about the environment, but their actions slowwalk the transition to clean energy that is already creating millions of blue-collar jobs.

They instill fear in primary voters that a progressive will lose to President Donald Trump, going so far as to welcome a Democratic billionaire to counter progressives. Their true fear is that a progressive will become president and break the corporate shackles on our government.

Pollution and climate change are not left-right issues. There is no such thing as moderation when future life on the planet is at stake. Our Allegheny County air already smells like chemicals when the wind’s not blowing, and our water contains unregulated pollutants from fracking. We already suffer high rates of asthma and cancer because of the toxic manufacturing industries here. Now, our “moderate” leaders are bringing in more toxic industries.

Money talks to the corporate party leadership on both sides. We, the people, know that we can’t breathe money, we can’t drink money and money going to the top 1% does not trickle down.

MIRIAM E. LINDAUER

Bethel Park