California Ranked as #1 State with Worst Air Quality

RobertU said:

Originally Posted by RobertU:
My own suspicion is that California is not vigorously enforcing its vehicle smog rules because most of the violators are poor people or undocumented immigrants (although they now are allowed a driver’s license as a document).

The progressives running California would rather inhale bad air than put a burden on “oppressed” people.



Unpaid traffic fines and mushrooming fees have left 4.2 million Californians with suspended driver’s licenses — more than one-sixth of the licenses issued statewide — with poor people the hardest-hit

4.2 million have lost driver’s licenses because of unpaid fees - SFGate

If many if not most of those 4.2 million poor people are defying the law and still driving, I doubt they are going to pay for smog checks on their mostly older cars and will allow their non-compliant vehicles to pollute the air.

Click to expand...

This last post leaves me wondering if you even own a car.
California's smog check system is well enforced. The equipment sends smog test result data directly to the DMV office in Sacramento.

If your vehicle passes, you get a certificate. If it fails, you don't, and if you don't, you can't renew your registration. If your vehicle is out of reg for a long enough period, it gets towed when you either have contact with law enforcement or if they notice it on the street. Then, to get it back, you have to pay the tow and impound fees, get a passing smog check and pay the penalties on your old reg and get your new sticker, and THEN they let you drive it again.
Otherwise it stays in impound and is either auctioned off or crushed by the junk man depending on the value.
Auction buyers have to bring it into compliance to drive or sell it. Or they can part it out.

As for the "mostly older cars", the smog laws in California address that as well. If your vehicle is more than twenty-five years old, it becomes mostly exempt. That's because most vehicles older than that are either relatively low mile creampuffs or cherished classics.
There simply aren't very many 1981 Buick LeSabres with 230 thousand miles on them still in operating condition anymore in 2019. It is simple mathematical attrition.

Last but not least, those "older cars" have relatively primitive and relatively simple smog control systems. A catalyst on anything built after 1975 or 1976, an EGR valve, maybe an "air injection reactor" pump, and maybe a warm air intake control valve. Any car that was designed with a carburetor isn't going to have a complex or expensive smog system for the simple reason that it can't. Carburetors don't make complex computer controlled air pollution controls possible.
That is why for the most part, carburetors no longer exist on vehicles built after the mid-1990's.

So, you can choose to "believe whatever you want to believe" but you're talking to a person who not only actually has a fair bit of knowledge of this stuff, but I also have close friends who (A) helped DESIGN some of the air quality/smog control systems, like for Chrysler and Mitsubishi just as one example, and (B) who also have worked FOR the California Air Resources Board.

In fact, I just lost one of my best friends, Paul Donnelly, who did work at the C.A.R.B. up until 2011, when he got sick and retired.

I don't know your age, but if you're younger than forty, you were an infant back when it was impossible to see more than a block because of how bad the smog was out here, so you don't remember how bad it was.
If there's one thing that the State of California has taken more seriously than any other state in the country, it's air quality issues. The other thing we take more seriously than anyone else is earthquake construction and safety regulations and standards.

I moved here in 1982, at the age of twenty-five, so I do remember how bad it was back then.

Wow the most populous state is also the most polluted?

And I suppose Republicans think that's a reason California should stop efforts to curb pollution, because climate change is all a big scam?

I have a relative with cancer. What a hypocrite, she should stop getting treatment.

By the way, this doesn't mean that there isn't a certain small amount of corruption IN our state's smog check system. All through the years, it has always been possible to find "friendly" and understanding smog check garages who, for an additional under the counter fee, extend certain "courtesies" to a customer by gently massaging the necessary data to force a non-compliant vehicle into compliance.

For my dear departed friend, this was one of his favorite challenges, because despite BEING a classic car motorhead, one of the main parts of his job at CARB was making it more difficult to cheat the system.

Once they began scanning VIN numbers AND bar codes AND OBD diagnostic data directly into the system and sending it directly to DMV HQ in Sacramento, it started to become almost impossible to cheat, and here is why:

Say for instance you have a 1993 Volkswagen Golf, or maybe a 1995 Chevy Caprice. DMV has a massive database on every car make and model, and their system KNOWS the upper and lower limits of every single one of these car models. They know the performance data, they know everything about these cars.

They know how much NOx a specific car will emit from the tailpipe at 1800 RPM, at 2500 RPM and at 4800 RPM. They know how much particulate matter it will emit. They know how much CO it emits. All of the data curves are stored and incoming customer test data is compared against the database.

On cars with more advanced computer systems, say for instance a 2010 Chevy Cobalt, it isn't even necessary to start the engine at all, the system just queries the vehicle "black box" computer and GETS the curves for the past week from it directly without the vehicle even running.

Therefore, you know who pays through the nose to cheat? Not poor people with crappy old cars.
HOT RODDERS with illegal performance modifications, who will pass as much as a thousand bucks under the counter. But even that isn't very common at all anymore and here's why:

It isn't necessary anymore, because MODERN hot rod engines perform better. A hot rodder is going to install a MODERN high performance engine capable of putting out 1200 horsepower, and that high performance engine is computerized and it is going to run pretty damn clean despite all that power.

If they are trying to install a 1966 426 HEMI V8 with dual four barrel carburetors in their 1962 Dodge wagon, they don't have to worry because 1966 Chrysler HEMI V8 smog consists of ONE item, a small nine dollar EGR valve, period.
If it works, the engine passes smog check. An original 1966 Chrysler 426 HEMI V8 will cost you about fifteen to twenty thousand dollars, so poor people are not putting $15-20 thousand dollar engines in their jalopies.

Suffice it to say that the old days where you could slip John or Jose an extra fifty bucks to keep your 1992 Pontiac in compliance are pretty much gone, especially since John or Jose could get fined a hundred thousand bucks and maybe do jail time for cheating, and lose the ability to EVER fix cars legally in California for a living ever again. It just isn't worth it to them anymore.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

You know what's really STUPID about so called POOP MAPS?
It's POOP, so when you map poop, it portrays poop as if it somehow has a half life of 300 thousand years.
That's not to minimize the health hazards of street defecation, as it's clear that countries like India suffer from dangerous disease vectors for the same reasons.
But you will notice that each individual report has something called a CLOSE DATE, which seems to indicate that at some point, the poop either washed away, disintegrated or was cleaned up.

India has been attempting to handle their similar problem, many cities in many other countries have as well. Paris was suffering from public URINATION issues until they finally decided to provide public urinals scattered around the city. That's because Paris suffered from a lack of public restroom facilities for decades. Even businesses serving the public would not offer their facilities TO the public, even for a fee.

San Francisco is going to have to offer public restrooms, and they will have to attempt to keep them clean and operational as much as possible. But even right now, the poop is not "radioactive".

Every poop ever shatted since 2011, eh?
"OMG OMG don't step there, Doris!! A hoomin bean pooped on that sidewalk eight years ago!!!!"

Click to expand...

No, but it shouldn't be happening all the time. Poop can be very dangerous for health.

enderpotato00 said:

No, but it shouldn't be happening all the time. Poop can be very dangerous for health.

Click to expand...

Of course it shouldn't be happening all the time.
But since humans have to poop, and since there is a shortage of public facilities, and a glut of homeless, guess what?
Sounds like there is a need for more public facilities, and a need to address the glut of homeless.

But publishing maps that, at first glance, make it appear that an entire city is one giant mass of fecal matter is questionable.
It exaggerates and exacerbates the problem but offers no solutions.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

This last post leaves me wondering if you even own a car.
California's smog check system is well enforced. The equipment sends smog test result data directly to the DMV office in Sacramento.

If your vehicle passes, you get a certificate. If it fails, you don't, and if you don't, you can't renew your registration. If your vehicle is out of reg for a long enough period, it gets towed when you either have contact with law enforcement or if they notice it on the street. Then, to get it back, you have to pay the tow and impound fees, get a passing smog check and pay the penalties on your old reg and get your new sticker, and THEN they let you drive it again.
Otherwise it stays in impound and is either auctioned off or crushed by the junk man depending on the value.
Auction buyers have to bring it into compliance to drive or sell it. Or they can part it out.

As for the "mostly older cars", the smog laws in California address that as well. If your vehicle is more than twenty-five years old, it becomes mostly exempt. That's because most vehicles older than that are either relatively low mile creampuffs or cherished classics.
There simply aren't very many 1981 Buick LeSabres with 230 thousand miles on them still in operating condition anymore in 2019. It is simple mathematical attrition.

Last but not least, those "older cars" have relatively primitive and relatively simple smog control systems. A catalyst on anything built after 1975 or 1976, an EGR valve, maybe an "air injection reactor" pump, and maybe a warm air intake control valve. Any car that was designed with a carburetor isn't going to have a complex or expensive smog system for the simple reason that it can't. Carburetors don't make complex computer controlled air pollution controls possible.
That is why for the most part, carburetors no longer exist on vehicles built after the mid-1990's.

So, you can choose to "believe whatever you want to believe" but you're talking to a person who not only actually has a fair bit of knowledge of this stuff, but I also have close friends who (A) helped DESIGN some of the air quality/smog control systems, like for Chrysler and Mitsubishi just as one example, and (B) who also have worked FOR the California Air Resources Board.

In fact, I just lost one of my best friends, Paul Donnelly, who did work at the C.A.R.B. up until 2011, when he got sick and retired.

I don't know your age, but if you're younger than forty, you were an infant back when it was impossible to see more than a block because of how bad the smog was out here, so you don't remember how bad it was.
If there's one thing that the State of California has taken more seriously than any other state in the country, it's air quality issues. The other thing we take more seriously than anyone else is earthquake construction and safety regulations and standards.

I moved here in 1982, at the age of twenty-five, so I do remember how bad it was back then.

Click to expand...

The California Smog Check system is easily tricked, and fraud is rampant. Arguing otherwise has me thinking you are likely not well acquainted with the system and how it can be tricked.

For reference, I'm a 5th Generation Southern Californian, and I was born when Eisenhower was President.

ocean515 said:

The California Smog Check system is easily tricked, and fraud is rampant. Arguing otherwise has me thinking you are likely not well acquainted with the system and how it can be tricked.

For reference, I'm a 5th Generation Southern Californian, and I was born when Eisenhower was President.

Click to expand...

Please provide the members of this august forum with evidence that demonstrates how to trick the California Smog Test, and evidence of rampant fraud. If I am not well acquainted, in your opinion, acquaint me please.
Everything in the universe can be tricked or cheated, but the point being argued is that somehow millions of people are getting away with not having to pass CA Smog. Sounds a lot like the claim that "millions of illegal aliens voted" and I want numbers and methods. Otherwise, this is just you making an emotional statement.

[h=1]BAR Serves Search Warrant at LA Smog Station[/h]



U.S. EPA settles with three Southern California companies for selling pollution control bypass equipment | U.S. EPA News Releases | US EPA

Mycroft said:

Their ground pollution is getting pretty bad too...at least, in San Francisco.

View attachment 67255694

Lachlan Markay on Twitter: "So @open_the_books mapped out every report of human feces on the streets of San Francisco since 2011 and uhhhhhh [url]https://t.co/7t3Cocc6Qf… https://t.co/t3kmWOZCii"[/url]

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Last time we drove through SF a couple of years ago, I decided it would be the last time.
It's beyond sad to see all the homeless in tents and living on sidewalks.

Like another poster said, I think CA.'s air quality is impaired by all the fires.

Here's where the emissions fraud really IS rampant, not just in California, but globally:

Dieselgate

Trump Tries to Roll Back California Air Quality Standards

trixare4kids said:

Last time we drove through SF a couple of years ago, I decided it would be the last time.
It's beyond sad to see all the homeless in tents and living on sidewalks.

Like another poster said, I think CA.'s air quality is impaired by all the fires.

Click to expand...

Well, they sure didn't help the situation, that's for sure.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

Please provide the members of this august forum with evidence that demonstrates how to trick the California Smog Test, and evidence of rampant fraud. If I am not well acquainted, in your opinion, acquaint me please.
Everything in the universe can be tricked or cheated, but the point being argued is that somehow millions of people are getting away with not having to pass CA Smog. Sounds a lot like the claim that "millions of illegal aliens voted" and I want numbers and methods. Otherwise, this is just you making an emotional statement.

[h=1]BAR Serves Search Warrant at LA Smog Station[/h]

View attachment 67255829

U.S. EPA settles with three Southern California companies for selling pollution control bypass equipment | U.S. EPA News Releases | US EPA

Click to expand...

I have a car collection of over 40 cars. Classics, muscle, vintage. I am heavily involved in the car scene in Southern California. Everyone knows someone who can help them get a car past smog.

Further, everyone knows that the poor, and the illegal, have friends and acquaintances who can help get their clapped out beaters past the smog checks.

You think that clapped out 81 Chevy Van, or 87 Nissan Pickup full of recyclables, or that 1990 Plymouth Voyager full of family and 250,000 miles on the clock actually passed smog?

You don't want to believe it's easy to cheat on a smog test? Fine with me. It's good not to cheat. But I could give you the names and addresses of 5 shops within 15 miles of me right now, who could "help" you out, if you needed it.

BTW, you should probably avoid hyperbole when complaining about "emotional statements". The irony blind the eyes.

Unless I missed it, I don't recall seeing anyone claim millions of people are getting away with not having to pass CA Smog. On the other hand, I suppose it could be a million, but not millions.

As of 2017 there was something like 15 million cars and truck registered in California, 8 million in Los Angeles County alone. So millions? Nah, that wouldn't be accurate, and I don't recall seeing that.

For the record, gasoline vehicles built in 1975 or earlier are 100% exempt from CA smog tests.
But there isn't all that much in the way of smog equipment on 1975 and earlier cars, even ones built for California.
The smog equipment on those old cars was very primitive.

ocean515 said:

I have a car collection of over 40 cars. Classics, muscle, vintage. I am heavily involved in the car scene in Southern California. Everyone knows someone who can help them get a car past smog.

Further, everyone knows that the poor, and the illegal, have friends and acquaintances who can help get their clapped out beaters past the smog checks.

You think that clapped out 81 Chevy Van, or 87 Nissan Pickup full of recyclables, or that 1990 Plymouth Voyager full of family and 250,000 miles on the clock actually passed smog?

You don't want to believe it's easy to cheat on a smog test? Fine with me. It's good not to cheat. But I could give you the names and addresses of 5 shops within 15 miles of me right now, who could "help" you out, if you needed it.

BTW, you should probably avoid hyperbole when complaining about "emotional statements". The irony blind the eyes.

Unless I missed it, I don't recall seeing anyone claim millions of people are getting away with not having to pass CA Smog. On the other hand, I suppose it could be a million, but not millions.

As of 2017 there was something like 15 million cars and truck registered in California, 8 million in Los Angeles County alone. So millions? Nah, that wouldn't be accurate, and I don't recall seeing that.

Click to expand...

Yes, you missed it.

RobertU said:

Originally Posted by RobertU:
My own suspicion is that California is not vigorously enforcing its vehicle smog rules because most of the violators are poor people or undocumented immigrants (although they now are allowed a driver’s license as a document).

The progressives running California would rather inhale bad air than put a burden on “oppressed” people. ** ATTN: Ocean515, you're so concerned about hyperbole and emotional statements but I sense a double standard.


Unpaid traffic fines and mushrooming fees have left 4.2 million Californians with suspended driver’s licenses — more than one-sixth of the licenses issued statewide — with poor people the hardest-hit

4.2 million have lost driver’s licenses because of unpaid fees - SFGate

If many if not most of those 4.2 million poor people are defying the law and still driving, I doubt they are going to pay for smog checks on their mostly older cars and will allow their non-compliant vehicles to pollute the air.

Click to expand...

An 81 Chevy van, 87 Nissan Pickup or 1990 Plymouth Voyager have emissions systems which are to cars what dialup AOL is to computers.
A catalytic converter, an EGR valve, charcoal canister and perhaps a gas cap sensor. The 81 Chevy might have an Air Injection Reactor Pump.
Fact is, the cat is about the only device on these old clunkers that accomplishes anything of any significance, at least in comparison to the other items on the list.

As stated earlier, these vehicles are disappearing due to simple attrition. But even if there are still lots of 81 Chevy vans still plugging away, the cat is the only thing on there that can't be replaced with junkyard substitutes.

I'm aware that cheating goes on, I'm disputing RobertU's emotional and hyperbolic assertion that it's not only almost universal and in the many millions, but also that California does not vigorously enforce standards, and that "liberals look the other way" on smog.

Sorry, that's just tincture of bovine excrement, and it is becoming more and more difficult to circumvent CA smog laws every year.

ocean515 said:

On the other hand, I suppose it could be a million, but not millions.

Click to expand...

I'd make an educated guess that it's about half that. But even if it were actually 1,000,000 violators, that means that the system is working.
Is anyone really expecting absolute 100% results? In ANYTHING?

And comments that bleeding heart liberals are allowing poor people to skip smog...well, that's just absurd and has no basis in fact whatsoever. But you go ahead and defend that if it makes you feel better.

Here is how I know that California Air Quality Management program is doing a pretty good job:



Here's how else I know, because in 1982 when I first got here, it looked a lot more like this:



...than this:

Checkerboard Strangler said:

Yes, you missed it.



An 81 Chevy van, 87 Nissan Pickup or 1990 Plymouth Voyager have emissions systems which are to cars what dialup AOL is to computers.
A catalytic converter, an EGR valve, charcoal canister and perhaps a gas cap sensor. The 81 Chevy might have an Air Injection Reactor Pump.
Fact is, the cat is about the only device on these old clunkers that accomplishes anything of any significance, at least in comparison to the other items on the list.

As stated earlier, these vehicles are disappearing due to simple attrition. But even if there are still lots of 81 Chevy vans still plugging away, the cat is the only thing on there that can't be replaced with junkyard substitutes.

I'm aware that cheating goes on, I'm disputing RobertU's emotional and hyperbolic assertion that it's not only almost universal and in the many millions, but also that California does not vigorously enforce standards, and that "liberals look the other way" on smog.

Sorry, that's just tincture of bovine excrement, and it is becoming more and more difficult to circumvent CA smog laws every year.



I'd make an educated guess that it's about half that. But even if it were actually 1,000,000 violators, that means that the system is working.
Is anyone really expecting absolute 100% results? In ANYTHING?

And comments that bleeding heart liberals are allowing poor people to skip smog...well, that's just absurd and has no basis in fact whatsoever. But you go ahead and defend that if it makes you feel better.

Click to expand...

Why are you projecting another posters comments on me, and then coloring your response accordingly?

I know from overwhelming experience that California enforcement of smog laws is lax at best.

I have no idea what you are going on about when you mention OBD1 or earlier level smog systems. Vehicles equipped with that level of sophistication still must pass the appropriate levels of O2, NOx, and HC. Tough to do with a clapped out CC and a worn out engine.


I don't know why you think liberals aren't turning the other cheek when it comes to smog checks. They turn them when it comes to drivers licenses, insurance, and whether someone is in the country legally, so why not smog checks.


Think what you must. That's your deficit to excuse.

AlphaOmega said:

Saw this yesterday...what disgusting pigs in San Fran. It's like the 14th century there with people being allowed to **** in the streets. Liberalism truly is a mental disorder.

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No, not liberalism. Though that is part of the cause.

Mental facilities in California are severely understaffed and underfunded in most cases. So over the course of a decade, more a few thousand individuals were released onto the streets with nowhere to go.

You can find tons of images of vagrants high and just rambling in the streets in a vast amount of California. This is nothing new at this point.
I read an article about a shop owner who had no traffic in her store for several hours. Because a homeless woman was taking a crap right in front of her shop.

Hell, officials for the CME were debating on not holding their medical conference in California for much of these same reasons. Which is where it's been held since as long as the CME has been a thing.

truthatallcost said:

1. I live in the Bay Area.

2. I step over, or walk around human poop everyday on my way to work in a downtown location. Today it was on the side of a bus stop shelter that homeless people have taken over.

3. I don't know what its like in Florida, but the stories of human waste in parts of the Bay Area are not exaggerated to anyone who lives here.

Click to expand...

Why do you still live there if it's such a--ahem--****ty place?

RobertU said:

Originally Posted by RobertU:
My own suspicion is that California is not vigorously enforcing its vehicle smog rules because most of the violators are poor people or undocumented immigrants (although they now are allowed a driver’s license as a document).

The progressives running California would rather inhale bad air than put a burden on “oppressed” people.



Unpaid traffic fines and mushrooming fees have left 4.2 million Californians with suspended driver’s licenses — more than one-sixth of the licenses issued statewide — with poor people the hardest-hit

4.2 million have lost driver’s licenses because of unpaid fees - SFGate

If many if not most of those 4.2 million poor people are defying the law and still driving, I doubt they are going to pay for smog checks on their mostly older cars and will allow their non-compliant vehicles to pollute the air.

Click to expand...

When was the last time you pulled up behind some truck or clunker on the 405 and was blasted with black smoke when they hit the gas? Or how about idling in traffic next to a truck belching white smoke because it was burning oil? Well, in my youth that was pretty common, now it seems so rare that when it does happen people call the cops on the jerk.

Oborosen said:

No, not liberalism. Though that is part of the cause.

Mental facilities in California are severely understaffed and underfunded in most cases. So over the course of a decade, more a few thousand individuals were released onto the streets with nowhere to go.

You can find tons of images of vagrants high and just rambling in the streets in a vast amount of California. This is nothing new at this point.
I read an article about a shop owner who had no traffic in her store for several hours. Because a homeless woman was taking a crap right in front of her shop.

Hell, officials for the CME were debating on not holding their medical conference in California for much of these same reasons. Which is where it's been held since as long as the CME has been a thing.

Click to expand...

We have had a homeless problem for decades. Homeless people are not stupid, they go where it is warm and friendly, California. In the 70s, the streets used to be filled with crazed Nam Vets with PTSD before they called it PTSD or did anything to help those poor men. Reagan did end some of the places crazy people went which forced a lot of them on the streets way back in the late 60s. Cities will attract all kinds. I find it strange that being poor and homeless is a crime. The problem is, if you build places for them they fill up because word gets out and more come.....

Checkerboard Strangler said:

Here is how I know that California Air Quality Management program is doing a pretty good job:

Here's how else I know, because in 1982 when I first got here, it looked a lot more like this:

...than this:

Click to expand...

Further proof of the improvement in LA smog can be seen on TV. Just turn on any show based in LA from the 60s and 70s and you will see how bad it was if they have scenes on the freeways or downtown. I remember watching a Mannix show on Netflix a few years back. He was driving on the 10 downtown around Century City, you could barely see the mountains. I lived in LA back then, it was really bad.

Vadinho said:

Further proof of the improvement in LA smog can be seen on TV. Just turn on any show based in LA from the 60s and 70s and you will see how bad it was if they have scenes on the freeways or downtown. I remember watching a Mannix show on Netflix a few years back. He was driving on the 10 downtown around Century City, you could barely see the mountains. I lived in LA back then, it was really bad.

Click to expand...

London fog was the first case of international environmental issues. When first it was discovered that the fog was a death dog, London built higher exhaust towers. That solved the problem for London but the smog drifted to Sweden. Sweden was now suffering the effects of London fog and demanded London find another fix for their problem. And international environmental conflict was born.

ecofarm said:

London fog was the first case of international environmental issues. When first it was discovered that the fog was a death dog, London built higher exhaust towers. That solved the problem for London but the smog drifted to Sweden. Sweden was now suffering the effects of London fog and demanded London find another fix for their problem. And international environmental conflict was born.

Click to expand...

I know this sounds far fetched but it has been proven:

Not only is Southern California dealing with its own smog, it's trapping smog from across the Pacific, too.
A recent study showed, just for example, that up to 29% of San Francisco's smog is coming from China and India.

Air pollution in Asia is wafting into the USA, increasing smog in West

Checkerboard Strangler said:

I know this sounds far fetched but it has been proven:

Not only is Southern California dealing with its own smog, it's trapping smog from across the Pacific, too.
A recent study showed, just for example, that up to 29% of San Francisco's smog is coming from China and India.

Air pollution in Asia is wafting into the USA, increasing smog in West

Click to expand...

This is likely very true as we get our winds from the west and north. California has two large mountain ranges that capture air, the coastal ranges that get up to around 8 thousand feet or more and the sierras. I remember discussions about building a tunnel through these to the desert and installing big fans to suck the air out of the basin into the desert. Far fetched but it addressed the problem of the LA Basin. So we did the sensible thing, we went full environmental across the board including making gasoline specifically for California cars. Sorry my right wing droogies, California has always led the way on the environment, its part of who we are because we love our state, our shared resources and the beauty of a clean environment.

Checkerboard Strangler said:

I know this sounds far fetched but it has been proven:

Not only is Southern California dealing with its own smog, it's trapping smog from across the Pacific, too.
A recent study showed, just for example, that up to 29% of San Francisco's smog is coming from China and India.

Air pollution in Asia is wafting into the USA, increasing smog in West

Click to expand...

One factor in the sustainability of the Florida Keys coral is dust, including pesticides, brought in hurricanes and storms from the Sahara region. It's not as much of a factor as once believed, but it was a wake-up to the international aspects of pollution.

Vadinho said:

This is likely very true as we get our winds from the west and north. California has two large mountain ranges that capture air, the coastal ranges that get up to around 8 thousand feet or more and the sierras. I remember discussions about building a tunnel through these to the desert and installing big fans to suck the air out of the basin into the desert. Far fetched but it addressed the problem of the LA Basin. So we did the sensible thing, we went full environmental across the board including making gasoline specifically for California cars. Sorry my right wing droogies, California has always led the way on the environment, its part of who we are because we love our state, our shared resources and the beauty of a clean environment.

Click to expand...

Catalytic converters were adopted in CA in 72, rest of the country in 73.