Category: Commentary/Editorial || By

In honor of Earth Day on Wednesday, here are a few reminders of what life was like back in the "good old days."

Look back fondly on rivers that teemed with "Allegheny whitefish" and ran crystal-brown with sewage and mill outflow.

Speaking of brown, do you remember when nothing grew on the hillside facing Clairton Works, or when the smog that was so thick they could slice it for sandwiches down at Isaly's?

On the other hand, pretty much anyone who wanted a job could get one --- one that paid real money and didn't require much of an education.

Along with the industrial jobs we sent to the third world, we also sent the pollution. According to a recent story in The Guardian, much of China is now engulfed in a permanent haze that blots out the sun. Because forests have been clear-cut and vegetation is dying, dust storms now blanket the nation.

The Guardian calls the air "dangerously unhealthy." Around here, we used to call it "Tuesday."

There are other similarities between China and the Mon Valley, you know. Both places consider cabbage a staple food item and both places love Buicks.

Some people also say that both places have one-party governments.

If only the Mon Valley could get favored nation trading status, we'd be sitting pretty. Maybe we need to build our own nuclear weapons.

Richard Florida would note that the quality-of-life has improved in the Pittsburgh area since the downsizing of the steel industry in the 1970s and '80s, and in terms of being able to drink the water and breathe the air, that's true.

Clean air certainly makes working at Wal-Mart or waiting in line for methadone much more pleasant.

(And what about the bio-tech jobs that have "reinvented" the region? As far as I'm concerned, they're nothing but a nuisance. You can barely get through Clairton or Duquesne without having to stop every block and wait for some entrepreneur to form a brand-new bio-tech company.)

(Sarcastic? Me?)

Anyway, kids, think about this every time someone tells you about how wonderful things were when they were young, and how things have gone downhill.

They remember the Memorial Theater, Rainbow Gardens and football games at Tech High. They don't remember water and air that came in regular and chunky style.

So make the Mon Valley what you want to make it. And if that doesn't work, start learning Mandarin. The halushki in Guangzhou is to die for.

(Tip of the Tube City hard-hat to Alert Reader Chris for the photos.)