Why California is fighting for tough vehicle emissions standards

[Rhiannon12866]

Don Arax, a high school football coach in Fresno, Calif., sometimes cancels practices because his players can't breathe.

"We're worried," said the coach at Bullard High School. "About 25% of our kids are carrying inhalers now. I find empty inhalers all the time in the weight room and on the fields. We practice from 7 to 9 p.m. during the bad months. And my son's elementary school keeps (students) inside because of air quality."

At 53, the Fresno native says exhaust from passenger cars and trucks moving farm products through the California Central Valley has changed everyday life. "I used to always see the mountains. Now it's a rare day when we see the mountains" — the Sierra Nevada about 50 miles to the east.

For athletic coaches, parents and economic development officials trying to attract business, air pollution remains a sensitive issue in California. Weather reports include forecasts for rain, heat and air quality that urge senior citizens and children to stay indoors to avoid respiratory dangers.

So when the Trump administration said on April 3 it plans to roll back Obama-era greenhouse gas and fuel emissions standards for cars and light trucks, California officials took note. What is an engineering debate in Detroit is a crucial health question in the state where one-eighth of the nation's vehicles are sold.


Much more: https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/04/13/air-quality-california-pollution-cars/499135002/



Traffic slowly moves along the 110 Freeway during afternoon rush hour in downtown Los Angeles in May 2015. (Photo: Jae C. Hong, AP)

[kimbutgar]

1. And sadly these are the republican represented areas of California at the state and federal level

[BigmanPigman]

3. They represent their own fat wallets and their

constituents' big bank accounts from all they produce. They don't want to pay for water, legal labor with livable wages and healthcare, or affordable housing. Nunez those like him rely on those votes.

[procon]

2. I remember driving to work in LA smog.

A brown haze cut visibility and you couldn't see mountains of the downtown skyline. There were daily alerts warning people to stay indoors on the really bad smog days when the sun was a reddish disk and you had to drive with your lights on at midday. I lived outside the city, but every morning you see that stinky, dirty haze being pushed into our valley by strong offshore winds.

It's much better now and I'd hate to go back to the bad old days.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Oh dear lord.

I had thought California had conquered most of its smog problem.

The first time I visited Los Angeles in 1968 I was genuinely horrified by the smog. It was visible, palpable, I couldn't see very far and the air smelled nasty.

Over time, and especially with controls on car emissions - which also made life for the rest of the country much better - the smog there was reduced noticeably. Especially given how many more cars there are than there were some fifty years ago.

Those who think air quality standards don't matter need to do a bit of historical research. As a young child in Utica, NY in the 1950s, I recall tall smokestacks emitting black smoke, and Utica wasn't exactly a smokestack industry town. A friend who is my age and who grew up outside of Pittsburgh, PA, recently told me about going downtown with his mother when he was a child, and thinking that it was always night in the big city.

I used to read old Life Magazines, and I remember one from the late 1930s profiling some city in what was probably the Rust Belt in which the pollution from the industry completely covered the city each and every day, and by 10 am or so it was as dark as night, and it was nearly impossible to keep house or clothes clean.

If the current administration has its way we will soon be back to those days.

[rusty quoin]

5. Isnt it the San Bernardino mountains the special problem with LA?

In the 90s I travelled throughout mostly south California. It was horrible in San Bernardino. You could not see the sun on a sunny day. Now Fresno?

California has always been ahead of the rest of the country. Let’s keep it that way

[Piedras]

6. Los Angeles Calif. smog was horrible in the mid 1960's

I remember visiting my grand parents in Los Angeles and Santa Monica in the mid 1960's when smog was horrible. Unless it had just rained, a thick grey/black haze blocked the view of the surrounding mountains. My throat would tighten up and make me cough within hours of visiting.

Smog control regulations have considerably helped to clear the air in the following decades.

With a much larger population and more vehicles in use now it is vitally important to fight against rolling back effective air pollution and fuel efficiency regulations.

[3Hotdogs]

7. And remember, it wasn't just California.

Pittsburgh?

Newark, N.J. is geographically below the Watchung Ridge. I worked in Newark and driving to work in the mornings, I would see a thick haze looking down into Newark.

[kacekwl]

8. Here in Chicago too.

I remember in the 70's very hazy days in summer. And also remember those pics from LA and the awful air pollution. We are going backwards folks.