1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

As I write this, I’m breathing air rated at 500 on a chart from 0 to 500 where 0 is good and 500 is hazardous. My city is covered by this noxious smoke because our society has chosen to pursue profit and petty politics over our own well being and the wellbeing of the fragile environment that provides the only place in the universe that humans can live. While you’re approving the line 5 tunnel so we can burn more fossil fuels, my eyes and throat are burning. The infuriating part is that we have the technology and resources to choose clean energy, but we’ve chosen instant to burn our planet, to put money in the pockets of a few, at the cost of everyone and the very air we breathe. You’re going to send me a canned response that says it’s not your responsibility, it falls to someone else to fix and that you personally can’t control wildfires. I hope that logic helps you sleep at night knowing children in your community will develop cancer from your lack of willingness to stand up and legislate. Grandparents will die of heart disease sooner because of breathing toxic air. Clean air is not a commodity to be bought and sold. It’s not to be taken for granted. It’s a human right. Go outside right now while the entire state of Michigan is covered in toxic smoke. Take a deep lungful of air and tell me it’s someone else’s problem to solve. It’s not. You were elected to represent us, the people who are breathing this crap. It can no longer wait for the next election cycle, or for the choice to be easy. I’m calling on you to do your job and make things better for Michigan. It starts with switching to 100% clean energy right now. There’s no time to wait. Our state can’t breathe. If you’re not actively working to fix that right now, you are part of the problem.