Posted on 01/08/2005 9:16:53 AM PST by NormsRevenge
On the heels of new research showing Southern California children can suffer permanent lung damage from breathing pollution, the head of the region's smog-fighting agency vowed on Friday to "take off the gloves" to help speed up clean-air improvements.
In his State of the Air report, William A. Burke said he would push critical air-pollution efforts, such as reducing emissions from railroads and ports and converting diesel-fueled school buses to cleaner-burning models.
"The time for political correctness has passed," Burke said in his speech given in Diamond Bar. "The time has come to take off the gloves and tell the plain truth about what needs to be done to improve air quality."
He wants to draft a Children's Bill of Air Quality Rights, and make an emotional plea to lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to cut air pollution for the sake of young Southern Californians.
And the South Coast Air Quality Management District will hit the road, Burke said, holding board meetings throughout the four-county region at which residents can voice their concerns directly to the agency's leaders.
"We get an earful at every board meeting from the hired lobbyists of industry," he said. "I want to hear directly from the residents who bear the brunt of air pollution."
Burke's initiative is in response to new research that found that children who grew up in the smoggiest areas of Southern California were more likely to have weaker lungs, a chronic problem that could make them more susceptible to health problems in their 40s and 50s.
Environmentalists said Burke's idea is a good one but that they want to see real pollution cuts, not just talk.
"All the studies point to the need for real action and we support the chairman if that's what he's planning to do," said Nidia Bautista with the Coalition for Clean Air.
In recent years, AQMD leaders have complained that state and federal officials weren't doing enough to curtail pollution from automobiles, trains, ships and airplanes, sources that make up 80 percent of the region's smog.
Under Burke's initiative, district leaders are expected to challenge legislators, the automobile industry, businesses and residents to do more to cut emissions. Each of the 12 district board members will get a month to speak out on the air quality issues of their choice.
"I'll focus on pollution from truck traffic, plating companies in proximity to schools and the rates of asthma of children in South Los Angeles and the cause and effect of that," said Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents the city on the AQMD board.
She also wants the AQMD to spend more time in South and East Los Angeles, so residents there can learn how the district can cut pollution in their neighborhood.
Also Friday, the AQMD adopted rules to cut dust from some 400 sand and gravel operations, including mining facilities and concrete and asphalt plants.
The rules are intended to reduce levels of particulate matter, a component of air pollution that has been linked to increased emergency room visits for respiratory and heart problems.
Businesses will have to prevent dust plumes from moving 100 feet away from the source, use dust suppressants, sweep paved roads daily and use wheel washers to prevent trucks from tracking dust onto public streets.
Some Sun Valley residents said they hope the new rules will successfully lessen dust from the area's sand and gravel crushing operations.
"You see it on the road, there's dust all over the place," said Jerry Piro, a Sun Valley activist. "I've read a lot that the fine particles get into your lungs and cause all kinds of problems. I don't need that kind of stuff. And little kids shouldn't be suffering from air pollution, either."
The AQMD board also voted to cut 7.7 tons of pollutants from the region's most serious smog-producers over the next six years. That will be a 20 percent reduction over 2003 levels of pollution allowed from the region's biggest operations.
We don't work for him?
.. but it's for the children. (ducks) ;-)
I wonder if they will focus on the black smoke belching school buses ...
He may want to make himself scarce, when the "gloves come off". Few things are as self-deluding as an officious clerk...
Well, isn't THAT special. Before anyone takes AQMD's word and perspective as gospel, take a tour through their Taj Mahal HQ in Diamond Bar. Quite a place. AQMD does some important and good things but there is a SHAKEDOWN element to it that doesn't get much (any) media coverage. Bureaucrats levy fines that enrich the coffers of the AQMD and thus perpetuate their own livelihood. It's not as bad as the ACLU shakedown system or the corrupt bureaucracy of the UN but same principle....
Yup, diesels are high in the list.
"He wants to draft a Children's Bill of Air Quality Rights, and make an emotional plea to lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to cut air pollution for the sake of young Southern Californians."
FOR THE CHILDREN! FOR THE CHILDREN!
I'm sick of the darn children.
He must think people are really stupid. What could be more politically correct than a "Cchildren's Bill of Air Quality Rights".
Jeez -- what a deplorable Orwellian lefty.
Enforcing existing immigration laws in SoCal kills two birds with one stone. It reduces the number of potential victims by almost 40% and reduces actual pollution by almost 20%.
"Burke's initiative is in response to new research that found that children who grew up in the smoggiest areas of Southern California were more likely to have weaker lungs, a chronic problem that could make them more susceptible to health problems in their 40s and 50s. "
Total BS!
I grew up in L.A. durring the smogiest time, the 40s and 50s and neither I nor anyone I knew or know has lung problems.
The only complainers were imigrants from the east that bitched about it making their eyes water. No one that grew up with the smog even noticed it except for the lack of visibility.
So true
I wonder what the indence of Asthma was in the 50 and 60's was when you could cut the smog with a knife? I think this POS needs a visit. Diamond Bar is not that far from me
"You see it on the road, there's dust all over the place," said Jerry Piro, a Sun Valley activist. "I've read a lot that the fine particles get into your lungs and cause all kinds of problems. I don't need that kind of stuff. And little kids shouldn't be suffering from air pollution, either."
hey Jerry you ever hear of the Santa Ana's winds they blow crap from all over the region.. what a putz
And I am sick of this blustering, blowhard Burke!
" a chronic problem that COULD make them more susceptible to health problems in their 40s and 50s."
Sheah right, and monkeys COULD fly outta my butt!!
Or as onerously obnoxious when on thier crusade.
When they finally ban them along with the regular internal-combustion engine, it will be interesting to see the electric bulldozers, hybrid semis, and solar-powered backhoes which are vital to building and maintaining our civilization.
--Boris
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