Energy Saver News; WattBusters - California Tripping

As a Michigan native, Southern California has always seemed far removed from me. The only time I think about it is when a Michigan football team travels to Pasadena and generally get their behinds kicked in the Rose Bowl, or when I see wildfire stories on the news. Having its very own 'Govenator' is pretty good for public awareness too.

I visited California for the first time in early September with my wife. Time to meet the in-laws. My first impression while approaching Ontario Airport in Southern Cal was that the little mountains seemed to be surrounded by what appeared to be sand or dried kitty litter. The only green thing I could see was the gentleman seated two rows in front of me (he didn't enjoy flying). We landed, collected our baggage and exited the airport but I didn't see the mountains. On closer inspection, they were there in the distance but very faint and ghostly looking. That was my first run in with smog. The temperature was around 102 degrees but the humidity was only around 10%. I handled the heat better than my wife's rubber-soled roman sandals. She thought she'd stepped on gum but it was just melting footwear. (Note to self: Don't go barefoot.) I'd always heard about the warm weather in Southern Cal but I didn't realize that it's pretty close to desert conditions.

California's topography (the physical shape of the land) and its warm, sunny climate are perfect for trapping and forming air pollutants. Most California cities are built on plains or in valleys surrounded by mountains. These areas are natural bowls that trap air pollution and prevent the air from circulating. On some days temperature inversions (where the air closer to the ground becomes cooler than the air above) act as lids which trap air pollutants close to the ground. This prevents vertical mixing (the upper, cleaner air mixing with the lower, polluted air) and the dispersion of pollutants. Although each person may only produce a small amount of air pollution, the combined pollution from the over 33 million Californians adds up to a big problem.

Preferred travel in California is the automobile and there are more than 26 million vehicles on its roads. I think I saw every one of them on my drive up to Stockton. I also got to eat my first 'Double-Double' at the famous IN-N-OUT Burgers so a 'little' traffic was acceptable. All the vehicles in the state used 14.4 billion gallons of gasoline in 2001. That's more gasoline than all other countries except for the United States and the former Soviet Union. This makes California the third-largest user of gasoline in the world!

The Air Resources Board (ARB) is California's air pollution control agency. Their job is to clean up the state's air. The ARB provides funding for research projects, sets air quality standards, monitors levels of various air pollutants, and sets and enforces regulations to reduce air pollution. The ARB focuses on reducing air pollution emissions from cars and trucks, fuels, and consumer products; and emissions of toxic air contaminants. The ARB also works with the local air pollution control districts (APCDs) to reduce air pollution from stationary sources such as factories and power plants.

In California, about half the air pollution comes from cars and trucks. Two big ways to reduce air pollution are to drive less, even a little less, and to drive smart. Fewer trips in your car or truck will help cut air pollution. And how you drive can reduce your car's air pollution contribution. When speaking to California 'natives', they say that carpooling, walking, riding a bike, shopping by phone, telecommuting and public transit all help cut down on the pollution. When they drive, their main advice is to combine errands, keep your car tuned up and the tires inflated properly. "If you lose the lead foot (accelerate gradually) and drive somewhere around the vicinity of the speed limit you'll notice the difference in gas consumption and pollution".

The people of Southern California must be doing something right because they've made significant improvements with their air quality. You can see a historic chart of the South Coast Air Basin Smog Trends spanning the years 1976 to 2003 at: http://www.aqmd.gov/smog/o3hist-trend.pdf

WattBusters has a list of Air Pollution Reduction tips recommended by the California Air Resources Board at:
http://www.wattbusters.com/news/content-8.html

With the air getting cleaner every day, yummy IN-N-OUT burgers and a Hollywood Governor, you know what I say to California. "I'll be back."