Re: Just for the record
[Rod Dreher  03/21 10:58 AM]

Jonah, I deliberately avoided saying, “Those cement kilns gave my kid asthma,” because I can’t say that for sure, and I doubt that it’s true. It might be true, but there’s all kinds of other environmental factors that play into the rise in asthma. But it is certainly the case that the noxious output of those plants is a contributing factor to the respiratory disease and distress that people in north Texas suffer. Ozone pollution is huge here in the summer, owing partly to geographical/meteorological factors. The point is that we need to be doing whatever we can, within reason, to reduce those pollutants, to make the air in north Texas more breathable. It would be wrong to blame those cement kilns alone. Traffic around here is probably as big or bigger a contributor. It’s a complex problem. But what I appreciate about the local Republican leadership is that they recognize that this really is a problem, that it’s costing our community, and that we have a responsibility to attend to it as good stewards of the community and the land.