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High ozone levels and a quickly growing population are making it tough to implement regulations to reduce pollution, says a Cal State LA professor.
The quality of the air in California may be improving, but it's still dire.
That's according to the American Lung Association's recent "State of the Air 2017" report, which labeled the state and region a leader in air pollution, with the highest ozone levels.
The annual study ranks the cleanest and most polluted areas in the country by grading counties in the U.S. based on harmful recorded levels of ozone (smog) and particle pollution. The 2017 report used data collected from 2013 to 2015.
The top three regions in the country with the worst smog levels were Los Angeles-Long Beach; Bakersfield; and Fresno-Madera; Salinas, though, was recognized as one of the cleanest cities in the state and the country.
"The Los Angeles basin is exposed to the highest ozone levels in the country," explains Steve LaDochy, Ph.D., professor of geosciences and environment at California State University, Los Angeles, an expert in air pollution and climate. "It is getting better here, but it's still the worst."
The toughest CAFE standard in the country does not seem to have solved California's air pollution problem.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:36PM (8 children)
You might be thinking of L.A.'s commuter traffic as the reason for its pollution, but Long Beach was mentioned for a specific reason -- the Port of Long Beach is busy as fuck and all those diesel trucks waiting in line to drop off and pick up their cargo cause nasty pollution.
As for the question, "Why idle rather than shut the engine off?" Well, for one, if you're moving inch-by-inch, it makes no sense to keep restarting your fuckhuge and complicated rig each and every time. It works pretty well with gasoline economy cars but not at the torque and other forces required to start a monstrous turbocharged diesel rig.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:43PM (2 children)
They're not counting the Chinese smog [sgvtribune.com]
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday June 23 2017, @12:34AM (1 child)
Believe it or not, California has a surprising number of counties [photobucket.com] which don't require smog inspections.
You can game this system (as I did) by having your vehicle registered in a smog inspection-free county and then living elsewhere for awhile. Hey, there are people here who moved from other states and still drive with those plates on (after like 10 years of living here) to claim to be out of state residents and avoid California's ripoff driving-related fees.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by davester666 on Friday June 23 2017, @05:46AM
Yeah, there are constantly people on some diesel forum's I post on that want info on how to delete/disable the various pollution control devices (EGR, DEF, CAT's), and how to reprogram the various computers to trick places that test the computers for modifications to indicate that the various components are working fine, when they aren't.
And most of them do it just to do it. They want a diesel, because they heard it's cool, and that the first thing they should do when they get it is "delete" all the pollution stuff.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:52PM (1 child)
Why not use hybrid trucks that can use electricity for short distances and autopilot for traffic queue situations. If there's any situation these technologies are really handy. This is it.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday June 23 2017, @12:03AM
Because that costs money, if the truck doesn't have GPS it means that the owner is too poor to afford GPS, much less roadworthy tires that have been regrooved-retreaded like 5 times each.
The trucks which do have GPS are micromanaged like fuck. Either way, there's a reason why truckers keep 2 sets of books -- One to show the cops/present as evidence, and the actual log.
The worst part about this big push for autonomous bullshit like trucking is that it kills a piece of Americana, just like the death of manufacturing killed Rosie the Riveter and the American Dream.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @12:13AM
Not really inch-by-inch, but truck lenght at a time. Still takes some time to get through the queue.
Gotta find that buffalo burger, i've forgotten to do that.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday June 23 2017, @12:21AM (1 child)
Don't forget that the ships themselves burn the worst, heaviest, most toxic fuel of any transportation mode. That effect is also seen in Port Hueneme, further north, where there are less diesel trucks: massive car import port.
Long Beach: Nasty ships, plus idle trucks, plus the bloody highways filled with no-regulation diesel pickups and defeat-regulation cars idling for hours, with the ocean's inflow blocked by >2km tall mountains ... The fact you can see your nose is a testament to the tough CA emission regulations.
They're not about to drop the electric car incentives, and short-range electric heavy-duty trucks will sell like hotcakes.
The central valley pollution is mostly agricultural: dust and toxic stuff.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @09:15AM
Yup. It's called The Los Angeles Basin for a reason.
It's surrounded by mountains and all the crap that those legacy ICEs spew just hangs around.
...and with "the Santa Ana winds blowing hot from the north" [and east], that may (seasonally) blow all the crap out to sea, and you may then get to see The Hollywood Sign or Mt. Baldy, but 20 and 30mph gusts are just one more thing for us to bitch about.
...and there are way too many vehicles being operated.
Road congestion and commute times are just ridiculous.
Los Angeles County has made significant investment in electric light rail public transit.
That works quite well in those corridors where it exists.
Extremely fast--especially noticeable at rush hour when you zip by all the folks sitting in cars.
...but, for buses, L.A. County gov't seems still intent on buying internal combustion engine things.
Considering the lifetimes of those, buying electric buses would be a much smarter choice now.
The L.A. Bus Riders Union is pushing for electrics (and more buses and more frequent trips).
Zero-cost fares for public transit is another idea:
Every person not in a 1-passenger-per-car commute makes it better for those who are.
...and, IMO, the folks who make that "convenient" personal vehicle choice should be willing to pay to subsidize the folks making things easier for them, via some kind of additional tax.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:46PM
The pollutinator removes all evil particles. Ohh.. wait. The -inator left office 2011. Damn..
If it's Los Angeles, it must be all that sinful karma :P
(Score: 2) by julian on Thursday June 22 2017, @11:49PM (2 children)
There are just so many automobiles here that even the reduction in emissions hasn't kept up with the growth in driving. As we replace petrol-burning cars with electric over the next 50 years the problem should resolve. But the Central Valley will still have to deal with particulate matter; dust from dry soil kicked up by thousands of pieces of ag equipment.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday June 23 2017, @12:26AM (1 child)
There are always going to be environmental problems here as long as greedy developers get their way and people keep encouraging assholes to move here.
As a Californian myself, I'm still flabbergasted by how many new monstrous condo and McMansion developments are still going up all over the place, and yet they tell us that there's a "drought" and that we have to "conserve water" and accept ever-increasing 10% yr/yr water rates. You know why people are letting their lawns die and replacing them with rocks and cacti? No, it's not because there's a water-shortage, it's a sacrifice for the sake of growth. Of course, they never anticipated that part of it when they signed their mortgage and HOA paperwork.
It's like in Metal Gear Solid 2 how the AI is describing "billions spent on weapons to humanely murder other humans," except that the dissonance here is that "our waterfree urinals save water, but the toilets next to them will sweep away 11 gallons of shit with a single flush."
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday June 23 2017, @01:50AM
California will expand as long as the salary vs housing cost is profitable comparable with other locations. If it would be profitable to set up shop elsewhere I'm sure it would be done. But no.. billionaires sets up shop where they feel comfortable which is usually a expensive and overcrowded area which is no problem for themselves but for most of their employees. Once their is talent, the next billionaire sets up the next shop and the housing cost and crowding is worsened.
This is instead of moving the business centers a bit outside of the crowded zones so people could build some living space for little money and without commuting. Areas which are low on essentials like water, electricity, food or decent climate is perhaps not really sustainable either as a location.
How are California cities in comparison with Dallas, Houston, Boston, New York etc? any rural locations that offers well paid tech jobs near big cities for the social life?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NewNic on Friday June 23 2017, @12:00AM (2 children)
Solved, no. Improved, yes!
The editorializing makes it sound like the CAFE standards are not required. They are.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by KilroySmith on Friday June 23 2017, @12:22AM (1 child)
As someone who grew in SoCal in the '70s, I wholeheartedly agree with you. The basin is vastly cleaner today than it was then - imagine the pollution if Cali's extreme focus on air pollution didn't exist.
That said, with as many people as there are living there, and the commuting that they're doing, Cali should simply tax all gas/diesel vehicles to pay for even more EV incentives. Transform 50% of the cars on the road to electric, and a lot of the problem goes away. They could certainly justify it by noting the medical expenses that taxpayers are paying for people affected by smog - an externalized cost that they could recoup.
(Score: 3, Informative) by NewNic on Friday June 23 2017, @05:46PM
Instead of which, CA just increased taxes on EVs. [engadget.com] But then, the state still gives incentives to people who buy or lease EVs [sandiegouniontribune.com]. Talk about mixed messages!
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @12:30AM (2 children)
Must be all those H1B indo nigger street shitters shitting in the streets. Sanitation is a problem for government and silly valley billionaires refuse to pay any tax so who cleans the shit. Nobody is who.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @02:08AM (1 child)
Put up gates around a city block. Only allow people in that passes a rudimentary engRish test. Solved!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @02:18AM
"Only allow people in that passes a rudimentary engRish test. Solved!"
You wouldn't be allowed entry, based on your writing above.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @12:33AM (3 children)
California should limit immigration. Close the borders. No more New Yorkers, Kansans, Floridians, and Mexicans coming in to add to the pollution. Then, offer incentives for Californians to move away. Cutting the population by 20% should help to clean the air up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @12:37AM
They could also export Hollywood to some place sensible. Bahrain would be good. Let all the stupid tourists go to Bahrain to ooh and ahhh over their favorite move stars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @12:44AM (1 child)
Californians are welcome to move to Detroit, Chicago, St Louis, or Cleveland to help reverse urban decay.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @09:35AM
A gal I knew took early retirement and went back to Iowa.
A guy who was coming up on retirement was telling me he was headed for Alaska.
A comedian I heard on The Frazer Smith Show said she had built a house in Costa Rica.
They have no military.
They put their money into their people (even moreso than the northern European countries do).
Costa Rica Has Healthcare, Education, & Pensions For All Because They Scrapped Their Army In 1948 [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [dissidentvoice.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @02:16AM (3 children)
No one ever wants to just say it.
There are too many people on earth.
The earth and its ecosystems are suffering, and quality of life is arguably worse for all but the few humans who are wealthy enough to avoid unpleasant situations.
Air pollution, water scarcity, and many other problems could all be dramatically reduced if the population was cut by 50%.
We used to have wars which culled the herd. Now, that isn't an option on the sort of scale that would achieve significant reductions in the population, so it's going to have to happen some other way. A flu pandemic might work. In the mean time, anyone who has more than two children per family is an asshole and should be treated accordingly by society.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @02:36AM (1 child)
Condition health services in 3rd world countries with family planning and tax private jets. Make it cost to produce an excess of kids and condition family assistance with good parenting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23 2017, @10:05AM
Birth control should be handed out like Halloween candy, worldwide.
...of course, there are Catholics in the places where this is needed.
...and, in the USA, with its tight-assed if-you-fuck,-you-should-get-pregnant prudes in many state governments, things are going in the opposite direction.
OTOH, I've heard of judges requiring chicks to get Norplant [google.com] or do jail time.
condition family assistance with good parenting
...because punishing kids for having bad parents is such a great idea.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday June 23 2017, @12:34PM
California is not overpopulated. It is a huge state. Most of it is quite rural. Venture outside the Bay Area and Orange County and that quickly becomes apparent. If they filled up the rest of their acreage with the same density as the SF peninsula they could probably fit the entire population of the United States.
They would have to do things differently than they do, such as dramatically expand mass transit to move all those people around, but a lack of space is not their problem.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Some call me Tim on Friday June 23 2017, @03:10AM
How much of this is blowing across the Pacific from Asia? http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20150810/air-pollution-from-china-undermining-gains-in-california-western-states [sgvtribune.com]
The pollution in the Central Valley blows in from the SF Bay area.
Questioning science is how you do science!