Air quality: Not as unhealthy as portrayed

Re: “Fuels take double toll - at the pump and with our lives,” (TNT, 3/24).

This local viewpoint column in support of House Bill 1110, the proposed law to lower fuel emissions, is a prime example of misleading propaganda.

To begin with, HB 1110 would affect only Washington. Yet the article’s authors, in an obvious scare tactic, cite some death and health cost statistics that are not representative of what is happening in this state.

Moreover, the notion that our state’s citizens are choking on vehicular air pollution is contradicted by the fact that Washington is ending emission testing in 2020.

The reason? According to our state’s Department of Ecology, over the previous 35 years air pollution has been significantly reduced and “every community in our state currently meets all federal air quality standards.” It is expected to continue improving.

Working towards lower emissions is a good thing. And certainly we have occasional unavoidable air stagnation and smoke from fires. But it is dishonest to imply that our general air quality is substandard and unhealthy.