Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
“A new study by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) demonstrates an association between long-term exposure to ultrafine particle air pollution and death from heart disease,” wrote the OEHHA in a Feb. 25, 2015 press release. “Ultrafine air pollution particles are tiny – about 0.1 micron in diameter or … Read more
In my book “The Departure Track: Railways of Tomorrow,” I made the following declaration: “There is no question the transportation field has evolved.” But, I also related: “Some may ask: Has it evolved enough? Others will undoubtedly want to know: is this all there is; the end of the road, so to speak? Or, is … Read more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed moving the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas region into the severe category regarding the area’s non-attainment of the 1997 eight-hour, 84-parts-per-billion (ppb) standard of ozone. “EPA has been coordinating closely with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), North Central Texas Council of Governments, elected officials and statewide environmental organizations … Read more
If you remember (or even if you don’t) in “Climatological shift, cliff and other choice thoughts,” I insisted: “Whether one identifies oneself as a climate-change denier or climate-change believer there is no denying the climatological ‘cliff’ and ‘shift’ ideas.” Elaborating farther, I explained, “There is no question … there exists in this existence the notion … Read more
In the Kern County community of Taft in California’s southern San Joaquin Valley stands a new crude-oil terminal and not all are happy about the site choice for this facility. Relatedly, on Jan. 29, 2015, “[c]ommunity and environmental groups filed suit … over the expansion—orchestrated mostly in secret—of a crude oil operation in Kern County … Read more
In this day and age with air-pollutant emissions in many parts of the world being at unprecedented levels and concentrations, getting much media attention because of this and other reasons, one would think a concerted effort to significantly reduce emissions from transportation would be advanced as a means to better safeguard health and improve quality of life. As … Read more
Apparently, California’s entire San Joaquin Valley, consisting of eight counties in all, will only meet a new national 8-hour smog standard – the threshold still to be determined – if “most,” I repeat: “most” Valley-based vehicles are emissions-free. And, that would be in year 2035 at the earliest. Think about the implications! “The Valley will … Read more
Waste: there is a lot of it. There is that from the residential sector, the commercial sector, the industrial sector, the agricultural sector – you name it. The question is how to dispose of it all. Speaking to that last sector, fortunately in California, a ban on the burning of most agricultural waste is in … Read more
I don’t believe I have ever before seen the kind of disagreement over a health standard having to do with one of the nation’s most problematic pollutants – ozone – than I’m seeing right now. Deciding on updated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, I mean, how difficult a process does this need to be? … Read more
The title: “Hazy Central Valley skies with a slight chance of clearing,” is a metaphor. That was posted Dec. 1, 2013. What that was really all about was progress – or rather lack of it. Unfortunately, in California’s San Joaquin Valley, as long as I have resided here, it has pretty much been a case … Read more