A letter in response to the quote provided by Rep. Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican, in the June 21 Journal-World.

Rep. Schwab:

Your following statement is respectful to those who believe Kansas is a beautiful place to live: “Kansas needs to be open for business. We don’t have mountains; we don’t have oceans. If we don’t allow for people to make it easy to make a profit in Kansas, there is really no reason to come here.”

Just because we don’t have mountains and oceans in Kansas doesn’t mean we should disregard environmental protections in our state.

Further, your statement suggests that we should let Kansas become environmentally degraded for a profit to big business. Never mind what science shows us with respect to the benefits of clean air and water. Never mind that we have a serious water supply problem with the overuse of the Ogallala Aquifer. Never mind “traditional family and community values” (from your website) include human health protection as well as a safe and clean environment.

Should those of us who value our natural environment move to the mountains or near the oceans if we want clean air and water? Rep. Virgil Peck said that if shooting feral hogs works, maybe we found a solution to our illegal immigration problem. This, and your statement, creates an unhealthy environment in Kansas.

If you are serious about “representing” Kansans, you need to get to work on that business. That’s what you were elected to do.