America’s air: In a state of unhealthy repair?

There are known human health impacts due to poor air quality. Among these may be, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (ARB), coughing, tightness in the chest, asthma, cancer and premature death. For common air pollutants such as particulate matter (soot), ozone (O3) and others, the ARB provides detailed “Health Effects” data. For … Read more

EPA orders U.S. highways emissions monitoring (cont.)

I earlier helped shine a spotlight on highway-based air quality monitoring in: “Tiffs: EPA orders emissions monitoring along highways.” Discussion continues. Never in all the days I’ve spent on this planet did I ever imagine a time when monitoring stations would be a reality, much less a time when those stations would become fixtures along … Read more

TIFFS: EPA orders emissions monitoring along highways

Number five in the Transport in a Fine Fix Series. “Though tens of millions of people nationwide live within a few hundred feet of a major road, monitoring stations established to measure common air pollutants typically have been placed away from such thoroughfares and other obvious sources of contamination,” Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Barboza … Read more

Golden State taking aim at greenhouse gas emissions

The goal of the landmark Global Warming Solutions Act for 2006 in California – otherwise known as California Assembly Bill 32 – is, by 2020, to reduce in-state greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels and, in addition through an Executive Order, to a level 80 percent below that by 2050. On top of this, in 2008, the Sustainable Communities and Climate … Read more

Ozone speak: Presentation matters

So, I discovered this “Healthy Air Living” report from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District called: “Item #7: Update on Ozone Air Quality Progress and Air Alert Initiative,” released Aug. 15, 2013. I thought it might shed some additional light. A 21-page document and in it reference is made to both 1-hour and 8-hour … Read more

CATS: ‘Leaps’-‘n’-‘bounds’ growing: Hydroponics

Number 26 in the Clean Air Technologies Series. I once visited a farm in California’s central coast region replete with aqua- or hydroponic growing practices. “Hydroponics” (also known as “aquaponics”) is a buzzword term that deals with growing plants in containers that can be suspended vertically (one atop another), that through feed lines, are fed steady … Read more

Public education and ‘smoggy-day’ schedules?

In Fresno, California, public school is back in session and smog is present in the air. Every year it seems the two go hand in hand. In an Aug. 19, 2013 San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD)-issued news release is this message: “Steps residents can take to reduce ozone levels include refraining from … Read more

CATS: For environmental sustainability, security and even safety, solar ‘lights’ the way

Number 25 in the Clean Air Technologies Series. On a recent trip back to Fresno from Monterey, California, upon entering State Route (SR) 99 from SR 152, I noticed quite a few of the light standards that had previously been used to supply light for roadway illumination purposes were unlit. So what was the reason … Read more

Fighting smog with trees and other urban-cooling tactics; say what?!

Cities radiate summertime heat. Fresno, California is one of those cities, apparently. “It’s a fight against the phenomenon called the urban heat island. Cities become heat islands as they trap energy from the sun in asphalt, rooftops and buildings, particularly in places as sunny and warm as Fresno or other [San Joaquin] Valley cities,” wrote a The … Read more