Bigger fees are worth cleaner air, water

We mirror the divisiveness we see in our Congress, or perhaps it mirrors our confused state. Congressional representatives don't lead; they follow our lead, and right now our vision is focused on short-term gains at the expense of the lives of our children.

History shows that humans pull together when we have a common enemy. Our enemy today is not the "they" out there; it's the "we" who think we know more than everyone else. We listen to news from sources that agree with our perceptions and discount the rest. We socialize with people with whom we agree and label the others with unflattering names. Nothing can change our minds because we are smarter than everyone else and have already formed our opinions. Facts do not matter.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the continuing thinking that pouring tons of carbon and other chemicals into our air and water is fine so we can have more jobs. Cancer is the No. 1 killer of children and adolescents. New babies are born with 200 nonorganic chemicals in their bodies due to pollution from their mothers.

Let's reduce these health risks and encourage Sen. Mark Kirk and Sen. Dick Durbin to create a pollution cleanup fee for fossil fuel producers and let the marketplace encourage less use of gas and oil. They can build in a refund of the revenue raised to the householders who will end up paying about 15 cents per gallon more to fill their tanks. We are worth it.

Mary Hansen

Northbrook