What future cities could look like: A 21st century perspective

Many large cities today are bloated. Many smaller ones are too. Before forging ahead farther, it is important at this juncture to be clear on what delineates cities. One way cities are categorized is according to population size. Large cities: metros with population densities of from 500 thousand-plus to 10 million. Medium cities: metros with … Read more

Personal air-quality activity profile

And now for something just a little different. There is a tool called the carbon calculator. It is an instrument available to help people determine what their personal or household carbon footprints are. Truth be told, I have never used the device. I am not advocating that people don’t use this. However, for myself, I’ve … Read more

Largest polluters in Washington state to contest clean-air rules

Conservation, air and energy interests are doing their due diligence to make certain Washington State’s largest carbon-pollution emitters comply with the state’s clean air rules. “National and regional clean air, clean energy, and conservation groups took legal steps [Dec. 9, 2016] to defend Washington state’s authority to enact the Clean Air Rule that requires reductions … Read more

Food for thought: Re polluted air: To 86 is to fix. Get my drift? We can do this!

You’re familiar with the idiom “fish out of water” right? I sometimes wonder if that’s what we’re becoming like. The World Health Organization tells us that 92 percent of the world’s people are breathing polluted air. That’s profound! It’d be so much better if only eight percent did, but even that’s not good. No one … Read more

San Joaquin Valley Air Basin 2016 vs. ’15 ozone update

Ozone exceedances in the San Joaquin Valley in California’s interior, preliminarily speaking, in 2016 numbered 88. This is six exceedances more than the year before. 2015’s numbers are preliminary also. The ozone season in the Valley roughly lasts from March through October. So, why the increase? Keep in mind that a big part of the … Read more

South Coast Air Basin 2016 vs. ’15 ozone update

Imagine residing in an area where more than a quarter of one’s days in a given year, are spent breathing smog. And, it’s not only the smog that’s at issue: it is the degree or level of smog, or rather, ozone that is in air and in the South Coast Air Basin of California on … Read more

An air cleaner: Amtrak’s ‘Capitol Corridor’ service celebrates 25 years

In six days, Amtrak California’s Auburn to San Jose Capitol Corridor service marks 25 years of operation Amtrak Capitol Corridor trains hit the rails running, as it were, on Dec. 12, 1991. Such marked the first time since 1974 in California that a “new” regional Amtrak passenger-rail service was established – the regional San Joaquin … Read more

In 2017, do as California is: Make air cleanup, job one – Part 1

It is no secret that nations with substantial economies also emit large quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and California, though not a nation, does likewise. Fact is, if an independent country the Golden State were, it would have the world’s sixth largest economic output. Added to that, many know California to be the world’s 12th or  … Read more

Settlement reached: In U.S. VW to pay $14.7B: A big deal for California

The controversial part of the Volkswagen diesel-engine-emissions-doctoring (read: “defeat device”) scandal, at least in the U.S. is now in the rear-view mirror. A settlement award, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (ARB) in a press statement, of $14.7 billion in restitution (compensatory relief) was approved on Oct. 25, 2016, some 13-plus … Read more