My name is Sharon Duncan and I am a stay at home mother of two small children, ages 3 and 1. I am a teacher by profession and have always enjoyed working and being with young people. In my professional and personal life, I know many people affected by the quality of the air that we breathe. Many of my students dealt with health issues such as asthma or other respiratory illnesses that affected their life on a daily basis. Now that I have children of my own, air quality is even more important to me.
With two small and energetic children, our family spends a lot of time outside. We live in a major metropolitan area that has an abundance of outdoor parks and activities to choose from. From playing outside in our back yard to visiting parks both local and farther away, we love to take advantage of what our area has to offer. Living in a major city offers so many opportunities for our family, but I also worry about air quality due to vehicular and industrial emissions. During the summer months, there are often advisories to limit time outdoors due to air quality. I worry about the effect of poor air quality on the health of everyone, particularly the children and elderly who are the most vulnerable.
I’d love to see a future where air quality is of more importance to our lawmakers. I think the U.S. could be seen a world leader when it comes to improving air quality on a global level. I believe that lowering petrochemical and particulate matter emissions are a step in this direction and are imperative for public health. I support clean energy initiatives to lower greenhouse gas emissions, including tax credits for alternative fuel vehicles. My hope is that there will be a continual effort to improve air quality on a local, state, and national level.
Written by Sharon Duncan
