So somehow a while back people got it in their head that the air in L.A. was bad. Smoggy even
Perhaps due to pictures like this showing up in the newspapers:
Then a funny thing happened! They actually started to regulate the level of poisons that go into and come out of your internal combustion engine. And then things started to get better
Sometime when friends would come out and visit, I would let slip into the conversation that: "The air in Los Angeles is getting cleaner every year". This was typically met with funny looks, bartenders refusing to serve me any more drinks, or even people wanting to bet me on that. Turns out that I carried around a little folded up piece of paper in my wallet that showed basically the same thing that this InfoGraphic from the L.A. Times ran today along with a story. The story was about how the long trend toward cleaner air over time might be coming to an end.
Here is a link to the story for those interested:
SoCal hit with worst smog in years as hot, stagnant weather brings surge in hospital visits
Looks like maybe i'll need to keep that "bar bet" paper folded up in my pocket. But at least the bartenders won't be cutting off my drinks anymore. So thats a good thing, right?
All kidding aside, the people on the South Coast air quality board with their "industry friendly approach to pollution regulation" need to be reminded by the State what their job actually is.
Comments on the plan are due by 8-19, with the AQMD board voting on it in December. And then the ARB must also review it before sending it to the EPA. Surely there must be some adult supervision up that long chain...
AQMD plan would fight smog mainly through incentives, not rules