COUNTY EXECUTIVE RICH FITZGERALD ATTACKS THE MESSENGER
PSR PA and other partners in the Breathe Collaborative are being attacked by the Allegheny County Executive. Fitzgerald's lack of interest in the health of SWPA residents is a clear call to action for healthcare professionals and concerned residents to speak out against his inflammatory rhetoric.
A December 20, 2021 Public Source article featured an interview with Rachel Filippini, who led the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) to new heights over the last 17 years. The article sought a response from County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to Filippini’s thoughtful comments; the highlighted portion below of what he had to say, speaks volumes about the reason Southwestern Pennsylvanians live in one of the unhealthiest places in the country for toxic air pollution.
“...for the activists...substantial progress will never be enough.
If there aren’t complaints and issues raised by those extremists,
then they are less able to raise funds to continue their operations.”
Rich Fitzgerald, whose salary we pay through our taxes, would rather attack the messenger, than fulfill his responsibility to the public by facing the fact that despite improvements:
- We live in one of the top 1% of regions in the country for cancers caused by air pollution.
- Our youth asthma rate is nearly triple the national average for those living near major sources of pollution.
There are four things that you can do to respond:
Register for SWPATHS 5th Virtual Resident Town Hall https://www.eventbrite.com/.../achd-fails-to-leverage... on Allegheny County Health Department’s failure to leverage community-based science to fight deadly air pollution, scheduled for Wednesday, January 26, 2022, noon via Zoom
Share this communication with your contacts, in order to leverage our impact.