Legislators must say no to fracking

Our state legislators are trying to push through bad fracking bills. The bills are a bipartisan assault on our future. These bills ignore the Pittsburgh PostGazette’s investigation into childhood cancers in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The state Department of Health’s recent public meeting in in Washington County was inane — the DOH couldn’t even bring itself to utter the word fracking and readily admitted the data it relied on was incomplete (Oct. 8, “Health Officials’ Claim of No Cancer Cluster Angers Crowd at Canon-McMillan Meeting”).

To his credit, at that meeting, Rep. Tim O’Neal, R-South Strabane (speaking for Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette), said, “I believe we should investigate fracking to figure out what’s going on …. and I can tell you that Jason [Ortitay] and I at the state level are working tirelessly to not only bring state funding to figuring out what’s going on but we’re also advocating at the federal to do the same thing.”

Unfortunately, Mr. O’Neal and Mr. Ortitay are on board with some of the bad bills. The wall of shame is not only “red.” Some on the “blue” side, like Gov. Tom Wolf, are willing to look the other way to protect this murderous industry.

Mr. Wolf’s Restore PA and the equally smelly Republican counterproposal, Energize PA, subsidize and turn a blind eye to fracking’s consequences while locking it in for decades. Senate Bill 866, with several “blue” co-sponsors, and Senate Bill 790 either subsidize the poisoning or allow the industry to dump waste on our roadways. Senate Bill 887 would criminalize protest.

Our legislators are playing a dangerous game. Tell them to say no to fracking, to cancer clusters and to anti-protest bills.

MICHAEL BAGDES-CANNING

Cherry Valley

Important workers

In 2018, roughly 19% of people with a disability were employed as compared with 66% of people without a disability. This staggering difference deserves special attention in light of October being National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

The origin of this month dates back to 1945 when President Harry S. Truman approved a congressional resolution declaring the first week in October as National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week. In 1988, this initiative was changed to the entire month of October and its name was changed to what we know it as today.

In recognition of this, it’s important to realize that people with disabilities have a contribution to make to society and the workforce. People with disabilities who have been and are gainfully employed in the past and present have proved this to be true.

Too often, employers are not looking at what the person with a disability has to offer and how much they can contribute to a particular job. People with disabilities are often hired to fill spaces and not to develop new skills or harness existing ones.

It is the responsibility, both ethically and legally, of the employer to assess qualifications for a job based on ability and not disability.

My desire is that people with disabilities are recognized and given the opportunity to work year-round.

DAMITRA PENNY

Baldwin Borough The writer is a member of the Write Stuff Team of the Health Committee for Persons with Disabilities of the Consumer Health Coalition.

I am writing in support of the proposed ballot initiative for Pittsburgh’s parks. As a member of the Pittsburgh Sports League, I feel that I can speak for many of my teammates when I say that our parks are in need of improvement for Pittsburgh’s future generations, yes, but also for Pittsburgh’s current generations.

The drainage in many of our parks is dysfunctional to the extent that sports games for both kid and adult leagues are often canceled due to flooded fields. There are also certain fields we cannot use for evening and night games because of inadequate or broken lights. As a result, available fields for sports leagues are dwindling every year.

If the vote in support of better funding for our parks passes in November, it means we won’t run out of quality fields and green spaces for kids and adults alike to play sports. It means recreational sports leagues won’t fade away. It will help reduce childhood obesity rates, and the city of Pittsburgh won’t be dotted with unusable fields that will eventually decrease surrounding home and neighborhood values.

I’m hopeful that others — particularly those who participate or have children who participate in recreational sports — will support this initiative. EMILY EAGLETON

South Side