Associate Director and Senior Policy Analyst, Frontier Group
Elizabeth Ridlington is associate director and senior policy analyst with Frontier Group. She focuses primarily on global warming, toxics, health care and clean vehicles, and has written dozens of reports on these and other subjects. Elizabeth graduated with honors from Harvard with a degree in government. She joined Frontier Group in 2002. She lives in Northern California with her husband and son.
Elizabeth’s recent reports include Clean Water for the Three Rivers (2022), Trouble in the Air (2021), and Unhealthy Debt (2021).
Fifteen years ago, I broke my leg. I wore a cast for nine months, unable to walk, drive or, in the early months, even stand for very long. Though the experience of the broken leg was awful, thankfully it didn’t break me financially. But for too many people, a health problem like this can bring financial ruin.
In the winter of 2000-2001, millions of California homes went dark as manipulation of California’s deregulated electricity market created rolling blackouts and bankrupted a utility. It also set the stage for a clean energy revolution in California.
One of the most widely shared images from the inauguration was of Sen. Bernie Sanders huddled in his chair, trying to stay warm in his beige parka and wool mittens. Soon we learned those mittens were lined with fleece made from recycled plastic. I’m all for finding more uses for discarded plastic. Reducing the amount of plastic we throw away is going to require a variety of approaches, including finding more ways to recycle plastic. However, while recycling is an important part of the solution, it isn’t the entire solution.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced Americans to substitute virtual interactions for many things we’d rather do in-person. Expanded access to telemedicine is one change precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic that has changed our health care system for the better.
Several recent studies have suggested that air pollution may make COVID-19 infections more severe. These findings fit with previous research documenting how air pollution damages our bodies and makes us more vulnerable to infectious diseases. This new research should spur us to redouble our efforts to reduce air pollution.
