Under the Clean Air Act, California can set stricter vehicle emissions standards. In December 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver in order to enact the toughest vehicle emissions standards in the country. The EPA denied the petition. Last November the state of California filed a lawsuit against the EPA.
According to the Clean Car Campaign (pdf), 90 percent of Californians "live in areas that violate the state air quality standard for either ground-level ozone or particulate matter." Two of those areas, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, have the first and second worst air basins (respectively) in the nation.
I reside in a farming community in Fresno County. Smack dab in the center of the state, the Fresno air basin has the most pollution in the San Joaquin Valley. The geography of the San Joaquin Valley, being surrounded by mountains on either side and completely landlocked, makes it particularly vulnerable to smog pollution.
As the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution District's website puts it, "Surrounding mountains trap airborne pollutants near the Valley floor where people live and breathe. In addition, the Valley's hot, summer temperatures promote the formation of harmful ground-level ozone (also known as smog). Finally, as population levels increase, so does air pollution. More people equals more cars and more activities that contribute to poor air quality."
"Children in the Valley are more than 35% more likely to have asthma than their national counterparts. Rates of asthma are highest among children who live in Fresno and Kings Counties, where over 20% of children ages 0-17 have been diagnosed with asthma, compared with 15.8% Valley wide," according to the Central Valley Clean Air Coalition.
Last year the American Lung Association listed San Joaquin Valley cities among its most polluted areas:
Metropolitan Areas Most Polluted by Short-term Particle Pollution (24-Hour PM2.5)-Fresno no.2, Bakersfield no. 3, Visalia-Porterville no. 9, Hanford-Corcoran no. 15, Modesto no. 19
Metropolitan Areas Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution (Annual PM2.5)-Bakersfield no. 2, Visalia-Porterville no.3, Fresno no. 4, Hanford-Corcoran no. 7
25 Counties Most Polluted by Long-Term Particle Pollution (Annual PM2.5)-Kern no. 4, Tulare no. 5, Fresno no. 7, Kings no. 10, Merced no. 24
25 Most Ozone-Polluted Cities-Bakersfield no. 2, Fresno-Madera no. 3, Visalia-Porterville no. 4, Merced no. 5, Hanford-Corcoran no. 13, Modesto no. 15
Counties with the Worst Ozone Air Pollution-Kern no. 2, Fresno no. 3, Tulare no. 5, Merced no. 7
In May, the California Air Resources Board announced the findings in its two-year public health study, including that fine-particle pollution, PM 2.5, prematurely kills 3,000 Valley residents every year. PM 2.5 is 70 percent more lethal than experts once suspected. The Valley has some of the worst PM 2.5 levels in the state.
A Fast Growing Region
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) pointed out that the San Joaquin Valley is growing faster than the state's other air basins. "The San Joaquin Valley air basin has been home to the highest population growth rate in the state and this trend is projected to continue. From 1990 to 2000, the population grew by almost 20 percent and daily vehicle miles traveled increased more than 25 percent.".
The population of all eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley in 2000 was over 3 million. The Great Valley Center's population projections for 2020 are over 5 million, and over 9 million by 2050.
"Mobile sources, including commercial trucks, passenger vehicles, tractors and construction equipment account for nearly 80 percent of the NOx emissions in the San Joaquin Valley," according to a 2007 report (pdf) by the California Air Resources Board.
More people in the San Joaquin Valley means more vehicles on the road, and that equals more pollution unless California is allowed to implement stricter vehicle emissions standards.
Further Reading:
