[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jenny Oropeza
California State Senator

Since Day One of the modern environmental movement that began in the 1960s, California has shown national leadership. We passed landmark Clean Air and Water acts, with bipartisan support, and quick federal adoption of Golden State initiatives set the standard for 50 states — and many countries worldwide.

Among several pro-environment bills passed last year, Assembly Bill 32 became internationally famous for committing California to lead the fight for more energy-efficient buildings and reduced greenhouse-gas pollution.

The next logical step: Ensuring future generations of California’s schoolchildren are protected from air pollution and life-threatening respiratory diseases from nearby freeways. Senate Bill 1507 seeks this goal by barring new construction or expansion of freeways within 500 feet of a school.

With help from the Legislature’s 27-member Latino Caucus and others, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the serious health risks to students and employees when a school is located near direct sources of air pollution.

Consider two alarming facts:

A recent state study of Los Angeles area freeways measured fuel particulates near freeways at up to 25 times greater than less congested areas.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank O'Donnell
President
Clean Air Watch

Twelve governors (California, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington) have to congressional leaders and the President, protesting the disgusting move this week by the federal Department of Transportation, which is seeking to preempt these and other states from enforcing greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles.

As the letters note, the Bush administration once again is making a cynical attempt to re-write the Clean Air Act and to take away a fundamental states’ right.

This issue, of course, involves the ongoing conspiracy between the Bush White House and the car industry to kill the California car standards. But another interesting greenhouse gas drama is starting to play out in California – and it could have a ripple effect on Congress.

In that case, the issue is how to reduce electric power emissions in California. (There was an excellent piece the other day in the LA Times.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Legislation on Ports and Diesel Needed to Improve Air
California's Aggressive Laws on Auto Emissions Have Led to Improvements

From the American Lung Association of California

California cities and counties continue to dominate the list of places with the worst air pollution in the national American Lung Association State of the Air: 2007 report released today. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metropolitan area continues to sit atop the list of most polluted cities for 24-hour particle pollution, annual particle pollution. and ozone pollution levels. Riverside County ranked worst nationwide for particle pollution, as did San Bernardino County for ozone pollution. By contrast, Salinas ranked as one of the three cleanest cities in the nation for ozone and both measurements of particle pollution.

You can click on a chart to see how your locality fares.