L.A. port partners embark on innovative emissions-control project

Winds, in blowing inland off the oceans, typically don’t bring dirt onshore with them. But, under certain circumstances, this is exactly what happens. And, the “dirt” is in the form of polluted air. At first blush, that seems an incongruous idea. That idea, upon much closer examination, isn’t so far-fetched after all. Case in point: … Read more

SAPS: Getting more from orchard waste; cleaner air included

Number 3 in the Sustainable Agricultural Practices Series. It is near impossible for all people to always agree on all matters, obviously. Take, for instance, climate change (global warming): 1) not everyone subscribes to the notion of a warming Earth; and 2) of those who believe the world is warming there isn’t universal consensus as … Read more

Air Quality Awareness Week – 2016 (2): A retrospective, prospective

It’s what’s inside that counts In this epoch of climate change (global warming) awareness, one of the constructs associated with this phenomenon, is “carbon footprint,” and what this means or how it relates on an individual or per-person level. As this relates to Air Quality Awareness Week – 2016, some may want to know how … Read more

California’s ‘bad-air’ cities rank among nation’s worst, lung association finds

In the American Lung Association’s (ALA) annual rankings of worst cities for annual fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 – particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter in size) pollution, fine particulate matter pollution over a 24-hour period and ozone pollution, it is cities in California that have consistently topped the list. And, this year is … Read more

The climate-impact puzzle – trying to get ALL the pieces to fit

Who ever would have guessed that content or concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would have a climate or climatic connection? Does it? Carrying this idea one step farther, does a change in the level of atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gas emissions) change climate? What answer is given depends on … Read more

Months into VW-diesel recall and engine issue still unresolved

Some four-plus months have now elapsed since news of the scandal revolving around emissions-altering software known to be present in at least 11 million diesel-engine-equipped Volkswagen vehicles worldwide first broke. And yet, nary a spoken nor written word about any real recall action having to do with a sanctioned repair being performed related to setting … Read more

Small victories for a Northern San Fernando Valley town, environment

As a result of decisive action taken on Saturday, January 23rd, as it relates to one leaking well out of 115 natural gas injection and withdrawal wells at the Southern California Gas Company’s (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon storage facility total, it is to be shut down; that is, upon successful plugging of said leak, according to … Read more

2015: The year in notable air quality matters

Wow. What a busy year! It began, basically, on a high note. America’s first high-speed rail program commenced, an official and memorable groundbreaking taking place on Jan. 6th in a non-descript location on an industrial site in downtown Fresno, California, although, actual construction did not get underway until Jun. 16th on a viaduct that will … Read more