Posted on 03/09/2008 9:16:57 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Curling up in front of a cozy wood fire on a nippy night will be banned in many parts of Southern California on bad air days under new regulations passed Friday by regional air regulators.
Citing public health concerns in the heavily polluted Los Angeles Basin, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted unanimously to impose hefty fines on homeowners who burn wood in fireplaces on high-pollution days during winter months -- usually about two dozen days.
"This is a fair trade-off," district Executive Director Barry Wallerstein said. "This is about trading personal rights for cleaner air and public health."
Builders will be banned from installing wood-burning fireplaces in new homes, and it will be illegal to buy and install one when remodeling a home. Gas-burning fireplaces will be allowed.
Restaurants with wood-fired ovens, such as California Pizza Kitchen, will not be affected by daily bans. Nor will homeowners who rely on a fireplace for heat, or who have properties at an elevation above 3,000 feet.
Coastal areas that don't experience as many high-pollution days probably will be unaffected. Beach fires and ceremonial fires used by tribes also will be allowed.
Fireplaces are used in about 1.4 million of the 5 million households governed by the district, producing an average six tons a day of particulate soot in the air basin, according to the air district.
Numerous studies have linked fine particulate matter, which sinks deep into the lungs, to increased lung and respiratory problems. State officials say an estimated 5,000 premature deaths each year in the region are linked to fine particulate exposure.
About 106 tons of fine particulate soot is directly emitted every day in the Los Angeles area, according to the air district. The new regulations will reduce that by about 1 ton a day.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Not yet, that is.
Nor your charcoal grill, for that matter ... yet.
What are they gonna do? Go around sniffing the air and looking for chimneys? Kick in doors to see if you're burning actual wood or a Duraflame™ log?
Freaking eco-fascists suck.
This is about trading personal rights for cleaner air and public health.”
This is about trading personal rights for absolutely nothing at all.
So this will result in a less than 1% decrease in soot, if you buy their claims.
Or is that only when it comes to babies?
Regards
Our new national motto.
Out of control lefties are dismantling our liberties at a faster and faster pace.
Los Angeles has had dirty air since the days of the Indians. It is nature at work in the area. Los Angeles use to be a swamp..........still had dirty air....before all the people. This new idea is just to take more money from the people.
“Curling up in front of a cozy wood fire on a nippy night will be banned in many parts of Southern California on bad air days under new regulations passed Friday by regional air regulators.”
What exactly IS a regional air regulator?
Love that liberal-speak.
'Fair' is defined as anything bureaucrats want to ram through without public input or resistance.
'Trading' is defined as submission to government dictates. Nothing tangible or measurable will be received in return but it's still a trade in their eyes.
'Personal rights' is redundant except in the eyes of government which believes in group/collective rights. See also: 2nd Amendment as a collective right. Rights are inalienable according to our founding documents but the Barry Wallersteins of the world believe they are simply a commodity to cash in or even confiscate.
'Cleaner air and public health' are fig leaves for nanny statism. 'Public health' is richly ironic considering government enables drug use via methadone treatments and needle exchange programs and sexual promiscuity via all manner of goodies, many of which are distributed in government schools. Suddenly they are concerned about public health - never mind those junkies & STD carriers they helped create.
An exception, however, was made for illegal immigrant camps use of mequite and sage campfires.
Heh. Good thing I’m on the coast. I’m sitting here with about a hundred cords of oak firewood to sell.
What a bunch of nonsense.
But..but...Soot blocks sunlight and fights Global Warming! That is how "Nuclear Winter™ was sold.
Someone needs to call the Ecology Thought Police on them!
Why worry about a Chinese communist takeover... we seem to be doing it to ourselves at an alarming rate.
Has anyone cleaned their guns watching a football game while sitting next next to a fireplace? It doesn’t get much better than that.
I live in Los Angeles. I have 2 wood burning fireplaces. I will burn wood. Olive wood is my favorite. How will the city enforce the regulation? My property is gated. Who would issue a search warrant to come into my house. How would they positively identify the smoke source at night? FLIR from police helicopters? How could it be determined if the smoke was from wood? Every house in my neighborhood has multiple wood burning fireplaces. Who would be on duty to respond to fireplace smoke at night? How would the city notify residents on the ban days? Will we need to register our fireplaces and install monitors? This city, this state, this federal government is wearing me down. The joy of life is bleeding out. Must stay strong... Must collect kindling.
For them to “trade” our rights don’t they have to own them first?
Shouldn’t they have let us trade our rights through the democratic process?
Oh, they don’t think we have any rights.
See? It’s back to air pollution, the good old days. Forget Global Warming, it’s become an embarrassment for ‘consensus’ scientists.
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