04/08/2026
Letter to the editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/5/26:
Brandon McGinley considers the region’s shrinking population and wonders, “Is growth possible in Pittsburgh?” (March 29) While the region patiently waits to finally “capitalize on its strengths” of abundant natural resources, did Mr. McGinley ever consider that 265 years of coal mining, 165 years of oil drilling and 22 years of natural gas fracking have failed to “turn those advantages into growth”?
Maybe people aren’t moving here because on too many days residents are warned to stay indoors and avoid our legendary air pollution. Maybe people leave the area and don’t move back because they don’t want the increased risk of diseases — asthma, heart disease, cancer, pregnancy complications, mental illness — research associates with ever-expanding fracking operations in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Maybe people are choosing not to settle their families in communities near toxic neighbors like the Clairton Coke Works or the Shell petrochemical plant in Beaver County, or near the massive 3.6 GW gas-powered data center complex proposed by Sen. David McCormick that will inevitably result in more dangerous fracking, more air pollution and more health risks.
Maybe abundant coal, oil and gas have been a resource curse and not an advantage for our region after all.
-- Ned Ketyer is president of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
Brandon McGinley considers the region’s shrinking population and wonders, “Is growth possible in Pittsburgh?” (March 29) While the region...