{"id":512579,"date":"2026-01-13T06:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/512579\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T06:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:48:25","slug":"letter-to-the-editor-join-in-stop-trashing-our-air-lobby-day-this-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/512579\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the Editor: Join in \u2018Stop Trashing Our Air\u2019 Lobby Day this Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a title=\"Permanent Link to Letter to the Editor: Join in \u2018Stop Trashing Our Air\u2019 Lobby Day this Thursday\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westphillylocal.com\/2026\/01\/12\/letter-to-the-editor-join-in-stop-trashing-our-air-lobby-day-this-thursday\/\" rel=\"bookmark noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Letter to the Editor: Join in \u2018Stop Trashing Our Air\u2019 Lobby Day this Thursday<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"posted\"> January 12, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Like many of my West Philly neighbors, I am troubled that our City Government is sending more than a third of the City\u2019s trash to the Reworld (Covanta) incinerator in Chester, PA, for burning. Incinerating trash releases toxins that pollute our own air as well as Chester\u2019s, contributing to high rates of asthma, lung cancer, and other respiratory disease. In November, the West Philly Local reported on a bill to stop this practice. Introduced by West Philly\u2019s City Councilmember, Jamie Gauthier, HB 250788, the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, would bar the City Government from signing new contracts for trash incineration.<\/p>\n<p>The Council\u2019s Environmental Committee, which Gauthier heads, held a hearing on the bill last November at which many Philadelphians, including some from our neighborhood, expressed strong support. However, the bill was pulled from the legislative calendar due to opposition, largely orchestrated by Reworld, the incineration company that stands to lose the City\u2019s business.<\/p>\n<p>Bill No. 250788 will again be brought up for a vote later this month, and it seems that several Councilmembers are on the fence. To convince them to vote yes, you can join in a lobby day organized by Reclaim Philadelphia on <strong>Thursday, January 15, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.<\/strong>. Volunteers will be divided into small groups to speak with Councilmembers and their staffers. They will be asked to share stories about why ending incineration is important for them personally, and to present some basic facts about Philadelphia\u2019s dirty practices. All City residents, with any level of experience, are welcome and encouraged to join this effort. We will be given the info we need and logistical support. If you can join on January 15th, <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/1o6cRdSbkEsGVal7G66VuWnWbwHyXW6wGT4VznjrkaWo\/viewform?edit_requested=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">please sign up with this form<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Elaine Fultz<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"gofollow\" data-track=\"MTEyLDYsMSw2MA==\" href=\"https:\/\/back.office.heathergardnerstudio.com\/dmn4981\/classes.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/MT-West-Philly-Local-Ad-550-x-150-px.png\" \/><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Letter to the Editor: Join in \u2018Stop Trashing Our Air\u2019 Lobby Day this Thursday January 12, 2026 Like&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-512579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-pa","10":"tag-pennsylvania","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115886457240865781","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}