Press & News

Praveen Buddiga, M.D.: Elected officials ignore dire health problems of breathing bad air

Re “Fix the Clean Air Act or we’ll suffer the consequences” (Opinions, Sept. 28): I was surprised and disappointed to read the Op-Ed by our local leaders. As a physician who cares for patients with asthma and who struggle to breathe the Valley’s unhealthy air, I cannot support actions that threaten to delay clean air progress and harm my patients’ health.

What is perplexing is that the proposed amendments by the air district were not reviewed by the public, unlike a regulatory process which ensures that stakeholders, such as health organizations and impacted residents, are informed and included in the process. Even more concerning is the proposal to get rid of clean-air deadlines and require that health standards take economic feasibility into consideration before the standard can be adopted.

Are our elected officials going to put businesses’ bottom line before the health of our children? We hope the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District directors will remember their charge as a public health agency and put health first by abandoning this ill-conceived plan.

Praveen Buddiga, MD, Asthma and Allergy Specialist, Modesto