Letter to the editor: Parks should be protected, not fracked

I lived in Allegheny County from 1992 to 2013, when I moved to Chapel Hill, N.C. I moved back here in 2019. Our county is blessed with many beautiful parks where I enjoy walking, kayaking and biking. It saddens me greatly to think of our beautiful parks being fracked (“Allegheny County council passes park fracking ban, Fitzgerald vows to veto,” July 6, TribLIVE).

When I moved to North Carolina, I was happy to get away from the fracking that is destroying my home state of Pennsylvania, one of the most beautiful states in the country. When I moved back in 2019, I was sad to see that fracking is still going on, propped up by the use of ethane to make plastics.

It is also starkly clear that climate change, aggravated by fracking, is a daunting challenge that is already being seen in wildfires, drought, flooding and extreme heat. I am doing everything in my power to get our officials to take meaningful action, especially for the sake of my four grandsons, aged 5 to 12.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald needs to pass the bill signed by county council to protect our county parks from new fracking development. It’s time to stop bowing to the fossil-fuel industry.

Jeanne Zang

Sewickley