Gas nonsense

Sen. Guy Reschenthaler has jumped on the Republican “alternative facts” train. With his Feb. 1 Perspectives piece (“Natural Gas Is Improving Our Air”), he wants us to believe that drilling gas wells in Pennsylvania is good for our health. Furthermore, he says that because our air is finally improving, it’s high time we relaxed our controls on the noxious effluence from gas wells. And finally he tries to convince us that air quality is improving because so many wells are being drilled in our state.

There is not a grain of truth to any of that, and his argument is as smelly as a methane leak. First of all, Pennsylvania air quality is not good — especially in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania is ranked in the bottom third of states for overall air quality. While air quality has improved, it has a long way to go before we can call our air healthy. Second, industrial release of carbon dioxide, methane or greenhouse gases cannot be attributed with healthy properties.

So until the day when our air is truly healthy on any reasonable scale, the state Department of Environmental Protection should diligently try to manage down all sources of pollution, particularly those from deeppockets gas extraction companies like the ones poking holes in Pennsylvania. Go find us some clean industry jobs, senator, and stop supporting extraction industries with alternative facts. NICKOLAS CERTO Washington’s Landing