We’ve often fought on the opposite side of issues from the California Department of Transportation. The legacy of smog in California is due in large part to the pursuit of an ever-expanding freeway system designed around the single passenger vehicle, with CalTrans as the agency charged with making that happen. But over the past several … Read more
[message_box text_color=”light”] Action Alert Governor Newsom’s May budget revise cuts funding from and delays implementation of the smog check program for heavy-duty trucks established by SB 210. Email Governor Gavin Newsom, your state Senator, and your state Assemblymember and urge them to adopt a trailer bill to SB 210 that imposes a July 1, 2022 … Read more
COVID-19’s public health threat is clear. In just four months, over 104,000 Americans have died during the pandemic. The virus’s death toll already exceeds the United States’ combined military fatalities during the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf, Afghan, and Iraq Wars – a period that stretches roughly 40 years. These numbers are sobering and tragic, but COVID-19’s … Read more
Powerful industries have been fighting clean California air for years, and some of the state’s biggest polluters are lobbying Governor Newsom’s administration to delay enforcement or roll back safeguards against pollution and climate change. And while the administration has made clear that they aren’t pursuing a broad rollback, they have committed to reviewing requests to … Read more
As agencies around the state and country work furiously to respond and adapt to the pandemic, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) should respond to this major public health crisis by taking action to fight a related one: air pollution. The evidence is increasingly clear1)See this study from Havard and this study from … Read more
by Former CCA Executive Director and Board Member Mark Abramowitz Above: Mark receives a California Air Quality Awards from Past Board President Sabrina Schiller It was the summer of 1984, and I was a young air quality scientist for CBE, then called Citizens for a Better Environment (now Communities for a Better Environment). I had … Read more
[message_box text_color=”light”] Update Thank you to all of you who contacted Governor Newsom and your legislators! California’s environmental rules aren’t going anywhere. “It’s not a moment for people to take advantage and try to throw out rules they didn’t like anyway,” said Kate Gordon, director of the governor’s office of planning and research and Newsom’s … Read more
NOTE: This commentary originally appeared on CALmatter’s website. California has often defined an American ideal of mobility, from the Beach Boys harmonizing on “I Get Around” to Hollywood stories like “Ford vs. Ferrari.” And after California scientists discovered the link between tailpipe exhaust and smog, the Golden State also became a national leader in reducing … Read more