'Stop all burning'

By George Sanders
Visalia

(Updated Thursday, January 2, 2003, 4:40 PM)

The first and easily the most obvious thing is to stop all burning. That's right: Agriculture burning, fireplaces and barbecues have to be shut down.

Nobody wants to do this. I don't. This is one thing we can do to help ourselves.

We can point fingers at the Bay Area for the rest of our lives while we continue to choke on our own smoke.

The terms "burn day" and "ag burn day" need to be removed from our vocabulary. This is a simple suggestion that will contribute to cleaner air.

It won't happen, however. San Joaquin Valley politics -- or should I say ignorance -- will not allow it.