A ‘conditional’ go-ahead re fracking in California

With an estimated 250 million motor vehicles plying American roadways daily, I can’t help but think of all of the gasoline being consumed yearly. Using an annual average per-capita vehicle miles traveled rate of 9,363 and an arbitrary average vehicle-miles-per-gallon rating of 17, in doing the math, that works out to the burning by each vehicle … Read more

Electrifying, National Plug In Day is!

Who would have ever guessed there’d be a day (or days) of the year devoted – first nationally and now internationally – to bringing about greater awareness of plug-in electric motor vehicles or EVs? Certainly not I. According to Plug In America, today and yesterday this year are both designated National Plug In Day. It is up to participating cities to decide which … Read more

Author highlights air pollution, mitigating solutions

Journalist, author and teacher, Linda Marsa, in her latest book: “Fevered: Why a Hotter Planet Will Hurt Our Health – and How We Can Save Ourselves,” details what I as a San Joaquin Valley, California resident know all too well – air pollution, a scourge affecting the likes of the area’s four million inhabitants and growing. … Read more

California tractor exchange program produces cleaner air

Each winter, an international agricultural equipment exposition – the World Ag Expo – comes to California’s bread basket – the San Joaquin Valley and in Tulare in particular. WAE draws people from all corners of the globe. Like some of the equipment on display, this three-day extravaganza is huge. I have been there but once. WAE … Read more

On polluted air, cleanup requires both a will and a way

So, my car has a dead battery. Last evening, I raised the vehicle’s hood and had a look. Even though externally the battery looked sound, internally it just wasn’t delivering the amps (amperage) needed to start the car. Using a volt-ohm-meter (VOM) I purchased years ago, with an analog display no less, I measured the battery’s voltage … Read more

Polluted air: A global health threat of epic proportions?

While bandied (and sometimes heated) climate change debate seems inexorable (see: “Global warming ‘hiatus’ puts climate change scientists on the spot,” in the Sept. 22, 2013 Los Angeles Times), there is no denying air pollution or its effects. In support of the latter position is a Sept. 23, 2013 report in U-T San Diego (formerly … Read more

CATS: In ‘passing’: On ‘track’ to trim emissions

Number 27 in the Clean Air Technologies Series. What percentage of Americans outside railroad industry circles – that is, those with no direct railroad ties – would you say actually give more than a glancing thought to train-released emissions? Two, three, four percent? More? Less? Whether a “direct” railroad connection or no, lives, though, are … Read more

To help with diesel-rule compliance, Calif. Air Board gets trucker assist

A New Year’s Day 2014 deadline is fast approaching. Out-of-compliance diesel trucks – estimated to number in the tens of thousands – require engine replacement or retrofitting to meet strict California emissions standards. Either this or potentially hefty fines will be assessed, apparently. Meeting the deadline and therefore being in compliance, could very well be the … Read more

Amtrak, California eye purchase of new electric high-speed trainsets

High-speed rail development in California could be a hop, skip and jump away from becoming reality. If you remember in “Amtrak modernizing locomotive fleets on Northeast, Keystone Corridors” on July 11, 2013, I brought to the attention of readers how in separate Amtrak and Siemens Transportation Systems news releases the two entities announced: “‘The first … Read more