Posts Tagged: air

Opinion

California needs a comprehensive plan for air quality

Morning pollution over Longt Beach. (Photo: Katharine Moore, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: We all have witnessed the devastation of climate change. As I write this, our California neighbors in Napa, Sonoma and up north are losing homes and businesses to wildfire. Every year, wildfire season is more severe than the year before. But the ravages of wildfire are not the only harmful result of climate change that is impacting us.

News

Action needed now to meet our climate goals

A view of Los Angeles blurred by a hazy atmosphere. (Photo: evijaf, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: For 11 years, Next 10 has been measuring economic and environmental indicators in the California Green Innovation Index. This year, the data is sobering. If the current pace of emissions decline continues, we will miss our 2030 climate targets by more than thirty years.

News

Environmental bill’s veto sparked surprise

The Delta-Mendota Canal near Santa Nella, Calif. (Photo: Hank Shiffman)

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of a major environmental protection bill angered and surprised environmentalists – and left some wondering what happens next. The measure, SB 1 authored by Senate Leader Toni Atkins and backed by an array of environmental groups, was aimed at safeguarding California’s environmental policies against the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back water, air quality and other standards in California.

Opinion

Fighting Trump’s ‘dirty air’

A black-and-white view of smoggy Century City, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. (Photo: trekandshoot)

President Trump, his nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Republican leaders in Congress have all declared plans to allow the oil and coal industries to extract, transport and burn dirty fuels with little restraint, to quash the free expression of science within the federal government, and to neuter the agencies that are supposed to safeguard our air and atmosphere.

Opinion

Legislature acts — and we breathe easier

Downtown Los Angeles seen through the smog. (Photo: Justin Dennis, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Millions of Californians suffered from smog and smoke this summer, but help is on the way. Defying the expectations of many observers and the fierce opposition of the oil industry, the Legislature passed a historic climate protection package in August.

Opinion

Location, location: Solar PV and the San Joaquin Valley

Solar PV panels used to power agricultural equipment in the Central Valley. (Photo: Shippee, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: When we combined the separate maps, the result was pretty remarkable: Out of the 9.5 million acres in the stakeholder study area, the groups identified 470,000 acres of ideal, non-controversial land for solar PV development, or roughly 5 percent of the Valley study area. At a generic calculation of 1 megawatt of solar PV production from 5 acres of panels, that means the lands identified could provide 94,000 megawatts of renewable power.

Opinion

Affordable housing: A tool to fight smog, traffic

An illustration of the affordable housing issue. (Nata-Lia, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: We generally think it a big success when public policy successfully fixes a serious problem. Right now, smart California policies are effectively tackling three major issues at once: housing, traffic, and climate change. Anyone not living under a rock knows that California faces an unprecedented crisis in housing affordability.

Opinion

The fight for a breath of fresh air

A smog-tinged view in black and white of Century City, Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. (Photo: Trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: What can you do for a kid who wants to play soccer but can’t, because air pollution and the child’s asthma don’t mix on bad air days? It’s the kind of question that comes up regularly for me, as a doctor specializing in asthma and allergies.

News

California ranks 50th among states in ‘health disparities’

A California physician examines a patient's medical information. (Photo: bikeriderlondon, via Shutterstock)

Californians eat more fruits and vegetables than other Americans, refrain from smoking, keep their blood pressure under control and do a decent amount of physical activity. But our health, overall, is still worse than the residents of 21 other states, according to a recent report. Why? A big reason might be a category in which California ranks at the very bottom of all 50 states — health disparities, according to an annual report published by the United Health Foundation.

Opinion

Green energy, economic growth go together

Capturing energy from the air in the Tehachapi Pass, California. (Photo: Patrick Poendl)

We are cutting per-capita carbon pollution dramatically while growing our state’s economy. Now, for every dollar of goods and services we produce, we emit less carbon pollution than any other major economy except for nuclear-powered France. Contrary to fear-mongering by some politicians, California has cut emissions by 25 percent while growing our economy by 37 percent over two decades.

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