Letter to the editor on Shimkus
This week's Illinois Times includes a letter to the editor I submitted:
I often appreciate the statements Congressman John Shimkus makes to area news outlets about the environment. He speaks in favor of protecting public health and supporting real science when developing environmental policies. He sounds sensible when he’s back home in the district. That’s why it’s so disappointing to read national blogs and press outlets which report on what Congressman Shimkus actually does while in Washington, D.C.
Although he speaks in favor of science while in Illinois, he has become known as an anti-science extremist in Washington. One congressman even had to ask why Shimkus didn’t include any actual scientists in committee hearings about climate change. He rhetorically supports public health while in Illinois, but in Washington, his attacks on environmental regulation would threaten the lives of thousands of adults and children. He claims to support agriculture in Illinois, but in Washington, he refuses to acknowledge the terrible impact climate change will have on Illinois farmers. How do we get the extremist Shimkus in Washington to start acting more like the sensible-sounding Shimkus I read about back home?
Will Reynolds
Springfield