9 May

Hazard reduction burns. Sorry, yes a pet hate. The ‘hazard’ these burns reduces is mostly the risk of stupidly-positioned homes, in the middle of the bush, burning down if there’s a fire. Property damage. The problem is, they create a far bigger hazard than they reduce - monumental air pollution. Look at Lithgow’s air this morning, every baby, child and adult in town is sucking this crap in, likely shortening many of their lives. Wood smoke is at least as toxic as cigarette smoke, some say it may be up to 30 times more toxic. Over 5.5 million people die prematurely worldwide every year, from air pollution. So...should we just let stupidly-positioned houses burn instead? And get rid of wood fires while we’re at it? Just one wood or coal fire can pollute an entire city block. This shit matters.