Comment Log Display

I urge the vote to reject the San Joaquin Valley Air District
Board's recommendation.  

Family photos and slides bear witness to a view of the Sierra
mountains from my parent's home during that was breathtaking. 
That was then, this is now. Born and raised in Merced County, I
left when I was eighteen. I have recently relocated back to the
Merced area to a fundamentally transformed Valley; what a
difference 28 years can make. 

I have returned to a Valley that is now distinguished as one of
the most polluted regions in the nation.  If the wind is whipping
through the Valley, I might have a chance to view what I took for
granted growing up in the 1960's in Eastern Merced County.

I can remember the one child on our campus who had asthma. 
Today,
an asthma diagnosis has become a routine event.  My mother
suffers
from chronic asthma which has only worsened with age. Today, it
is
commonplace for one third - one -half of students to carry
inhalers
on local campuses.  

Diesel trucks with outdated systems continue to clog Highway 99
and Highway 5. The former agricultural communities in the
Northern
and Western counties have been converted into bedroom communities.

We have not begun to address a truly sustainable model for Valley
residents.   

While I acknowledge the economic need to move goods and services
and the need for folks to find decent jobs and affordable
housing,
our population and our quality of life continues to suffer. We
can't continue under "a business as usual" mentality and try to
sweep these problems under the rug until 2024. 

Please take a stand with the governor and help to reduce
pollution
now -- we can not afford to wait another 15 years.

Sincerely,
Maureen McCorry
151 E. 27th Street
Merced, CA 95340