Vote for people over corporations

Recently, hundreds of community leaders met in Chicago for government hearings on proposed regulations for the disposal of toxic coal ash. This was important because the coal industry that produces half of the nation's electricity can currently dispose of its arsenic-, lead-, and mercury-containing ash with less regulation than you and I face in putting out our household garbage at the curb good for corporate profits, but bad for human health.

Our current congressman in the 6th District, Republican Peter Roskam, felt that this issue was so important that earlier this year he sent a letter to the Administration opposing the regulation of these toxins. I wish he had sent a letter on behalf of the public's needs, rather than on behalf of corporate profits. But Congressman Roskam has a history of opposing legislation designed to protect people, such as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 and the Home Star Energy Bill of 2010.

One of the community leaders appearing at those government hearings was congressional candidate Ben Lowe. He argues that we need to protect people by caring for the environment that sustains our very lives, and we need to develop our economy by investing in green jobs and clean energy that will open up new markets and industries.

If he were just another politician suddenly marketing himself as being green and the people's friend, nobody would care. But Ben Lowe has expertise as the founder of Renewal, a nationwide nonprofit environmental organization, and he's the author of "Green Revolution," a book on environmental stewardship. This November, I'll be voting for the needs of people rather than the desires of corporations by casting my vote for Ben Lowe.

Eric Norregaard

Wheaton