Oakland is losing two of its three professional sports teams. If we don’t come together as a community and support the building of a new baseball stadium at Howard Terminal, we face the real risk of losing our last team, the Athletics.

It makes no sense that, in the last decade, as Oakland’s economy, population and cultural influence have grown, that we may soon have no sports teams.

But putting sentimentality aside, a key reason to keep the A’s in Oakland is economic.

The proposed Howard Terminal ballpark would be privately financed, with no Oakland or state taxpayer dollars. With the legitimate criticism of municipalities using hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize stadiums, the fact the new A’s ballpark will be privately financed cannot be emphasized enough.

Let’s talk jobs — 6,100 permanent jobs to be exact. According to the independent Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the project will generate $902 million in annual economic impact. That’s billions of dollars in economic benefit over the next decade in sustainable jobs for Oaklanders, plus new businesses, restaurants, office space and housing. The A’s have committed to hiring locally and to utilizing union labor - a big reason why the Alameda Labor Council, composed of 142 local unions, publicly supports this project.

This project will fund environmental cleanup and restoration of toxic land in West Oakland. Some West Oakland residents experience three times the cancer risk of neighboring communities. Twenty-six thousand people currently live within one mile of Howard Terminal. According to the Bay Air Quality Management District, West Oakland residents face higher rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease and premature death than other urban areas in the Bay Area. The A’s are committed to significant environmental justice reform, cleaning up the polluted Howard Terminal site, water, and air to protect the surrounding neighborhood and to help improve the health and economic potential of generations of Oakandlers to come.

Some opponents of the Howard Terminal ballpark are special interests with a direct stake in avoiding any scrutiny of their poor environmental stewardship of West Oakland. It doesn’t take an environmental scientist to recognize that those responsible for decades of air, soil and water contamination would just as soon wish we continue to look the other way. This project is an opportunity to bring much needed attention and dollars to a historically neglected part of Oakland.

Oakland faces critical infrastructure needs. Not only will the proposed project be privately financed, but it will also produce new tax revenue for Oakland’s schools, transportation, housing and environmental clean-up. To the extent there is any public investment in the Howard Terminal area, it would be directly offset by new tax revenues generated specifically by the project, with no impact to Oakland’s general fund.

The A’s are working closely with transportation agencies, community members and other stakeholders on a plan to ensure ample parking and circulation, and to facilitate the use of additional modes of transportation like ride-sharing, transit, biking and, yes, even an electric powered gondola to and from the nearby BART station.

Despite the statements of some in the maritime industry, there is no credible evidence that a ballpark on a dormant site that has not been in maritime use for nearly five years (the sign outside Howard Terminal literally reads “Parking Lot”) will negatively impact port activity. This project will generate new resources to expand the Port’s turning basin and help maritime use thrive for decades to come.

It’s up to us to keep our A’s in Oakland. The writing is on the wall: The A’s could leave Oakland if this new ballpark doesn’t happen. Shame on us if we can’t make this happen.

Burt Boltuch is an Oakland attorney, avid baseball fan and Oakland A’s season ticket holder for almost 40 years.