Letters to the Editor: Smog probably gave me cancer. Clean-air laws are deeply personal

To the editor: I lived in Glendora as a child from 1965-69. During that time, smog was thick and dangerous. I remember many summer days, playing competitive recreational tennis, when it hurt to breathe. (“Trump loves fossil fuels; California wants clean energy. Cue collision,” column, March 31)

Smog was not “staged” when I lived there, but I’m sure many days would have qualified as Stage 3, when ozone levels stay above 0.50 parts per million for an hour. Upland had the last Stage 3 smog alert in the nation in 1974; now, we rarely have a Stage 1 alert.

In 1969, we moved to San Diego County, which had much cleaner air than Glendora. But years later, my father, mother and I developed cancer — Mom and I more than once, and Dad died from it. My brother developed severe asthma, which plagued him the rest of his life. No other members of our family on either side ever had cancer or asthma.

I will always believe the years we breathed ozone and carbon monoxide in Glendora played a part. So, when former President Trump claims that the 1970 Clear Air Act and California’s pollution restrictions are unnecessary and need to go, that gets personal. Really personal.

Clean-air legislation has saved lives.

Diane Scholfield, Vista, Calif.