Our state is especially vulnerable to larger and more frequent wildfires due to climate change. Climate change exacerbates drought and insect infestations. Colorado’s pine beetle is literally adding fuel to the fire.
The Western Slope is already experiencing the impacts of climate change and drought with a horrendous forest fire season on the horizon. Fires put people in direct and indirect danger, and the health implications are far-reaching.
Durango experienced 94 bad air days in 2015, and smoke from wildfires this summer will only inflate that number. Climate change is real and present in Colorado and puts the 343,000 Coloradans struggling with asthma and many others with respiratory illness at risk.
I urge Congressman Tipton to acknowledge climate change and take ambitious climate action in order to make our air a little easier to breathe.
Emily Struzenberg
Denver
