My name is Bellee Jones-Pierce, and I live in Decatur with my husband and our eight-month-old son. I’m a PhD candidate in the English Department at Emory University, where I study early modern literature. I grew up between small towns in Mississippi and Alabama.
Clean air is important to me largely because my husband and several members of his family have asthma. I never knew how serious it was until we moved to the Atlanta area. That is, I never witnessed him have an environmentally-induced attack until we lived here. His mother also has asthma, and visiting us here can be a hardship for her. While I do not have asthma, I am highly sensitive to smells. The fumes from a gas-powered lawn mower or leaf blower can make me feel sick, and I cannot drive with my windows down in traffic.
I hope that, in addition to the measures our government has lately announced, that people might use gas-powered equipment less and rely on cleaner energy.
Written by Bellee Jones-Pierce.
