The Valley's air is getting better, but don't be breaking out the bubbly any time soon. We still rank No. 2 in the nation -- behind only Los Angeles -- for the smoggiest air.
And we face a 2013 federal deadline for reducing as much as 50% of our current smog-forming pollution. That's going to be very difficult, since more than half of smog-forming emissions come from vehicles, and we show very little inclination to get out of our cars and trucks and into alternative transportation.
The Valley was in violation of federal smog standards 83 times this year, down from the annual average of 100-plus before 2005. But the federal standard for healthy air is one -- one -- violation per year.
Sierra Club member Kevin Hall of Fresno put it this way, in a Sunday story in The Bee: "We're having 80 times more violations than they allow," he said. "This is like saying we're drowning in 8 feet of water instead of 10. You're still drowning."
Or choking, as the case may be.
I just wonder how much worse the air has to get before most people are concerned enough to actually do anything about it.
We are so married to the convenience of our cars that we don't seem to think of alternatives. I ride my bike to work when I can, but its disappointing to see so few others doing it. (I know not everyone can, but some can.)
It's also dismaying to see how few people walk to lunch even on those rare days when the weather is gorgeous. And our unabated use of leaf blowers and other unnecessary polluting devices.
I could go on, but I won't. Everyone seems to be concerned about air quality, but we don't act like we are.
It was also disappointing to see the article in today's paper that sales of gas guzzlers are on the rise locally, thanks to the recent drop in gas prices. Do these people think gas prices are going to stay this low? (Not to mention their lack of concern about oil dependency and air quality.)
Just more evidence, I guess, that the human race isn't getting any smarter.
received an e-mail about Hilary Clinton being the lawyer for one of the Black Pnthers - checking with urban legends learned this supposedly happened before she graduated from college. If e-mail says it, it ain't necessarily so.