From the Left: Truth has a price, whether you like it or not Vicki Bush Each year, each season, each day we are living with the unmistakable damage to our planet, and ourselves, caused by fossil fuels and other harmful toxic pollutants. Local environmental activists have worked tirelessly over decades to maintain safe water, air, and soil productivity. But at present, tax-dollar-funded incinerator burn-offs are taking us back to substandard policies where mercury, lead, methane, dioxin and other dangerous deadly contaminants are well above any acceptable level. Incinerated waste is a significant contributor of greenhouse gases. Municipal solid waste incinerators -- of which Florida has 11, the most of any U.S. state -- in 2018 alone emitted nearly 12 million tons of carbon dioxide. Burning trash works against green-job climate solutions by not carrying out the obligation to the community to recycle, compost, or be a part of zero waste programs. Poisonous incinerator pollutants contaminate air, water, and soil. All are linked to health issues including asthma, heart disease, miscarriage, stillbirth, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and lung disease.