Stockton Standing Up -

You CAN make a difference	Please support us. Click here to donate.

Air Quality Fixes Still Needed Lung association report calls for aggressive action

Published in the Stockton Record on 04/28/05

Air-quality fixes still needed - Lung association report calls for aggressive action
By Dana Nichols
Record Staff Writer
Published Thursday, April 28, 2005

STOCKTON -- California needs to aggressively cut the total amount of gasoline and diesel burned by motor vehicles if the state is to have any hope of reducing air pollution and improving the health of people, American Lung Association officials say.

The Association's annual State of the Air report, released today, says California still has some of the filthiest air in the nation despite decades of efforts to improve it. The report gives San Joaquin County and all of its immediate neighbors failing grades in at least one air pollution category.

"We need to drive less and emit fewer pollutants," said Dr. John Balmes, chairman of the Lung Association of California's Clean Air Technical Advisory Group.

Rapid growth in the number of people and cars, especially in the Central Valley, is keeping pollution levels high, even though cars have become cleaner over the decades, the association said.

Recent improvements in air quality in some places -- like the reduction in particulate pollutants such as smoke and dust in 2003 in the San Joaquin Valley -- are likely due to new restrictions on winter burning in wood stoves and fireplaces, said Anthony Presto, a spokesman for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

The number of counties nationwide with unhealthy air recorded by monitors dropped to 390 from 441 in the last report -- the first significant decline in six years, according to the group.

In its report Thursday, the ALA attributed the dip to cool and wet weather in the years studied, government controls on Eastern coal-fired power plants and improved vehicle emissions standards.

But Janice Nolen, the group's director of national policy, emphasized estimates that half the U.S. population continues to live in areas covered in blankets of unhealthy smog, and one in five Americans faces year-round unhealthy exposure to tiny soot from diesel-burning trucks and other sources.

Local air districts don't have the power to directly regulate pollution that comes from cars and trucks.

"But we cannot forget that the family car is a significant part of the problem," Balmes said.

::: Advertisement :::

Beds/Baths
1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ / 1+ 2+ 3+
Price Range
Any $100,000 $110,000 $120,000 $130,000 $140,000 $150,000 $160,000 $170,000 $180,000 $190,000 $200,000 $210,000 $220,000 $230,000 $240,000 $250,000 $260,000 $270,000 $280,000 $290,000 $300,000 $310,000 $320,000 $330,000 $340,000 $350,000 $360,000 $370,000 $380,000 $390,000 $400,000 $410,000 $420,000 $430,000 $440,000 $450,000 $460,000 $470,000 $480,000 $490,000 $500,000
to
$100,000 $110,000 $120,000 $130,000 $140,000 $150,000 $160,000 $170,000 $180,000 $190,000 $200,000 $210,000 $220,000 $230,000 $240,000 $250,000 $260,000 $270,000 $280,000 $290,000 $300,000 $310,000 $320,000 $330,000 $340,000 $350,000 $360,000 $370,000 $380,000 $390,000 $400,000 $410,000 $420,000 $430,000 $440,000 $450,000 $460,000 $470,000 $480,000 $490,000 $500,000 Any
City
Stockton Acampo Clements Escalon Farmington French Camp Galt Lodi Lathrop Linden Lockeford Manteca Ripon Thornton Tracy Woodbridge

Cars contribute to ground-level ozone pollution, which is the major component of smog. Recent state research found that ozone is a bigger threat to children's health than previously realized. The California Air Resources Board today is considering setting tighter standards for ozone based on those health studies.

American Lung officials support the tighter ozone standard but also say they want to see the state get at the root of the problem by reducing the use of oil-based fuels and forcing a transition to cleaner vehicles.

A bill by State Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, is intended to do just that. The bill, SB757, sets a goal for halting the increase in oil-based fuel consumption by 2010 and calls for a "significant" reduction by 2020.

San Joaquin County received a D grade for ozone pollution, logging seven days from 2001 to 2003 when ozone levels were considered unhealthy to sensitive groups, like children and asthmatics. Delta breezes probably prevented the score from being worse.

Counties to the south that don't get as much wind from the ocean received failing grades. Calaveras County also got a failing grade for ozone pollution, although the county's grade for particulate pollution improved to an A with zero unhealthy days registered. Last year, Calaveras got a B for particulate pollution.

At least one motorist is skeptical that Kehoe's law would do much to reduce fuel consumption.

"How are you going to stop someone from using gas unless it goes up way higher than it is now?" said Annie Kelley of Stockton, a retired laundry worker.

Kelley said she already limits her driving as much as possible and drives a fuel-efficient Geo Metro.

Kehoe's bill doesn't have any language that would allow increases in the price of gasoline to discourage consumption. In fact, the bill is intended to stabilize gasoline prices by reducing demand, Kehoe legislative aide Gil Topete said.

"We are not asking anybody to drive any less," Topete said. "We are not asking anybody to pay more at the pump."

But clean-air advocates say people should drive less in order to protect themselves and their children from air pollution.

"Whenever you turn on your engine in your car, you create pollution," said Paul Scott of Santa Monica, an activist with the lung association who drives an electric car. "There is personal responsibility that goes with any choice like driving."

Children suffer the most damage from the pollution. State research estimates that in San Joaquin County alone, there would be 114,400 fewer school absences each year if the air met the proposed ozone standard the Air Resources Board is considering today.

Kehoe's bill faces opposition from the refining industry.

"It will discourage investment that is needed in California's petroleum infrastructure and possibly reduce transportation and general fund revenues," said Joseph Sparano, president of the Western States Petroleum Association.

And even people who are sympathetic to the idea of driving less say that may not be possible.

"I would like to drive less," said Joseph Flores, 64 of Stockton, a retired construction worker. "But I have doctors' appointments, and I have to pick up my wife at work."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

- To reach reporter Dana Nichols, phone (209) 546-8295 or e-mail dnichols@recordnet.com

Use your browser BACK button to return, or click on a link below.