Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
In 2014 on American roadways, a total 3.0257 trillion vehicle miles of travel were recorded. Of that amount, 169.83 billion miles that year were tallied in heavy-duty trucks.1 Assuming the calculation is correct, that’s 5.612 percent. In California in 2014, meanwhile, driving miles totaled 332.8572 billion or 11 percent of the 3.0257 trillion total miles … Read more
The below Jun. 15, 2020 press release is from the Sierra Club. Late last week, the Sierra Club and six other environmental groups won an important case involving the County of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan. The opinion explained in detail why the greenhouse gas mitigation measure was unenforceable. In addition to agreeing with the … Read more
“Dedicated high-speed rail dollars kept in the Valley will simply go farther,” the Air Quality Matters blog post of Jun. 14th, showed how $4.2 billion in state rail bonds, in being applied to construction work in California’s San Joaquin Valley, could be a tremendous asset where hiring, stimulating local economies and improving area and state … Read more
This June 16th marks five years since construction on California’s statewide high-speed rail program first began. There are now 4,000 laborers doing bullet-train-related building work in the Golden State’s Central Valley at over three dozen sites. That level of commitment notwithstanding, there are those who think that they know what’s best regarding where yet-unspent dedicated … Read more
Natural gas. It is used to dry our clothes, cook our food, heat our water and warm our homes. All true. But, from an air quality standpoint, how clean-burning or unhealthy are the gas-fired appliances that we use? Many, apparently, just don’t make the grade. As far as unhealthy indoor air quality from natural gas-powered … Read more
The below Jun. 1, 2020 press release is from Wabtec Corp. Wabtec Corporation launched an air-filtration innovation, called BlueFilter®, to provide a clean, healthy environment for passengers on metro and trains. The TÜV-tested filter continuously provides fresh and clean air onboard metro and railcars by removing more than 90 percent of contaminants per air cycle. … Read more
The below Jun. 3, 2020 press release is from the University of California at Berkeley. Living near active oil and gas wells may put pregnant people at higher risk of having low birth weight babies, especially in rural areas, finds a new study of birth outcomes in California. The study, funded by the California Air … Read more
By our very nature, we humans are a mobile lot. We move. It’s what we do. But, the act of moving itself should not be confused with doing things and going places; a whole different – and other – ball game. In the span of just a few short months, Americans witnessed miles of travel … Read more
When the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act was authorized in 1976 (also known as the 4R Act) it had been 10 years since the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, introduced by Congress, passed. Interest seemed strong through the 1980s and ’90s but funding for and forward momentum in this direction failed to … Read more
There is just no way to know what way the air-quality pendulum will swing for California’s San Joaquin Valley (or simply, “the Valley”) post-COVID-19, well, not at this juncture, anyway. But, by looking at air-quality trends of the past this could provide a clue. So, two points of reference: 2005, prior to the onset of … Read more