Dear Editor,
Our right to a clean and healthy environment is in trouble. Just look at the Canadian forest fires that enveloped the Hudson Valley’s skies this summer. Or take at a Times Union article from June which reported that, thanks to thousands of lead pipes across the city, Poughkeepsie has one of the highest childhood elevated blood lead levels in the state.
I recently received a letter from our state senator Rob Rolison about how he’s “keeping drinking water safe.” But when he was mayor of Poughkeepsie, he completely failed to respond to the city’s lead poisoning crisis. Between 2018 to 2022, Rolison oversaw the replacement of just 14 of Poughkeepsie’s 5,500 lead service lines. I was stunned to read that because of these lead pipes, 1 in 10 Poughkeepsie children are now lead poisoned. That’s unacceptable.
I was also shocked to learn that in Albany, Rolison sided with his fellow anti-environment Republicans and voted against the Build Public Renewables Act, which has been called the biggest climate victory in U.S. history. This legislation will help the state meet its renewable energy goals by requiring the state to close its current fossil fuel plants and build wind and solar energy projects—and Rolison rejected it outright. He’s also refused to support bills like the All-Electric Building Act and the NY HEAT Act, which would reduce building emissions and energy costs for working-class families.
Republicans like Rob Rolison don’t seem to realize that we have no time to waste when it comes to our air, our water, and our planet. It’s time for us to consider a new State Senator in 2024.
Robert Wallace
City of Poughkeepsie
