Chasing Clean Air

Learn How To Put Solar Panels On Your House

To stay connected with my search for clean air & solutions to air pollution...

 FACEBOOK LIKE Chasing Clean Air 

 Subscribe to Chasing Clean Air Twitter

 Chasing Clean Air RADIO airs here. TV series coming.

 Subscribe to the Chasing Clean Air RSS feed 

 

Carbon Tax For Clean Air and Fiscal Cliff Discussed Everywhere But Congress

The Clean Air Act and our tax system could get a welcomed boost with a Carbon Tax on fossil fuel producers and users. It's under discussion on NPR and The New Yorker. I wish the idea were discussed in Congress, too! I'm throwing in my clean air hat to say, Yes! to a carbon tax because it makes clean air, climate change, fiscal, clean energy, and better health sense.

A modest carbon tax would take care of half the current deficit.

Paying For It by Elizabeth Kolbert at The New Yorker is about potential benefits of Carbon Tax.

On NPR's "To The Point" today a great discussion underway Is The Carbon Tax An Idea Whose Time Has Come? Guests discuss benefits and (drawbacks) of a carbon tax on the fiscal cliff and our environment. I heard conservatives acknowledge the health care costs (dollars and lives) of continuing with unabated coal. Pleasant surprise to hear from conservative think tanks considering clean air benefits to a carbon tax.

From KCRW's web site on carbon tax topic:

Environmentalists have long championed a carbon tax, imposed not just on gasoline, but on all fossil fuels, from coal used to generate electricity to diesel fuel used to power heavy equipment, as a way to address climate change. Now it’s winning the support of conservative think-tanks and even some oil companies, as a way to address the budget deficit. Is the tax a smart way to avert both global warming and the fiscal cliff? If so, then why isn't the Obama White House proposing it, and why is Congress so reluctant to consider it? Has hurricane Sandy changed any minds?

Guests:

• Elizabeth Kolbert: New Yorker, @NewYorker
• Bob Inglis: Energy and Enterprise Initiative
• Marlo Lewis: Competitive Enterprise Institute, @ceidotorg
• Dan Lashof: Natural Resources Defense Council, @Dlashof

To follow my clean air search and explore air pollution solutions together, subscribe to the Chasing Clean Air RSS feed! 

24th Annual Clean Air Awards

Yellow butterflies fluttered against clean air Los Angeles! To the naked eye, Los Angeles appeared like paradise. Blue skies, rich vegetation, air quality markedly improved. Look at my backyard!

Reinforcing my clean air observation, last Friday I attended the 24th Annual Clean Air Awards sponsored by South Coast Air Quality Management District  (SCAQMD) where I learned who and how progress toward better air quality is occurring in Southern California. If you're anxious to get the scoop, skip ahead. 

But first, those butterflies proved most enticing to this almost-professional photographer!

I laid out my lenses on a Los Angeles you-can-see-forever kind of day and picked my 70-300 long len. Gripped in my palm, I pointed the lens toward a bee on a flower near very blue skies, thinking maybe the $5.00 a gallon gasoline in Los Angeles was part of the reason we've enjoyed cleaner air. Those blue skies=people strapped for money driving less.

Butterflies.

Bees.

Flowers.

I stalked, walked, and wondered.

To my east  no gray curtains of smog typically concealing the San Bernardino Mountains, and to my west Catalina Island sat pretty in the Pacific. Nothing to mar my vision for a thousand miles. Or so it seemed.

Inhaling fragrant air, I focused my long lens again.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, folks prepared to celebrate movers and shakers whose hard work toward cleaning air pollution is making a difference in the air we breathe.

The 24th Annual Clean Air Awards took place at the Biltmore Hotel where the Master of Ceremonies and CBS 2 Meteorologist, Josh Rubenstein, reported with a beaming smile,

"Last year Los Angeles had no red alert days!"

And with that the awards ceremony celebrated clean air accomplishments throughout Southern California. Maybe you can learn something to be applied elsewhere.

 

Highlights of 24th Annual Clean Air Awards sponsored by South Coast Air Quality Management District

recognizing outstanding individuals, businesses and organizations making a positive difference toward cleaning our air

Model Community Achievement went to City of Yucaipa for Community-wide Sustainability Planning. Yucaipa is located 75 miles east of Los Angeles. Recognized for mixed housing/business/pedestrian-oriented downtown, support for public and alternative transportation options, incentive partnerships and more. Dennis Yates, Vice Chair of SCAQMD, introduced Dick Riddell, Yucaipa mayor, and I couldn't help but think Dennis Yates has a rich voice. The sort of voice deserving of a successful radio career. And I wish more cities thought of pedestrians and alternative transportation options when city planning. Los Angeles lags when it comes to providing safe wide sidewalks and community park space.

Model Community Achievement also went to City of San Juan Capistrano for its "Go Green SJC!" Program. Waste and pollution reduction highlighted.

Leadership in Government Award went to U.S. Congressman Jerry Lewis, Congressional District 41, Inland Empire. He authored the state legislation which created the South Coast Air Quality Management District. With respect to air quality, Rep. Lewis focused on transportation emissions as the largest source of urban air pollution. Naturally, I agree as I wonder if the price of gas is in part reason for our great string of clean air days. After 34 years of service, Rep. Lewis will retire.

Innovative Transportation Projects was a first time category here and awarded to Jian Torkan, an ICO partner at ICO Real Estate Group, which completed the first U.S. development of a commercial property with a privately owned, publicly accessible electric vehicle fast-charge station.  The Ree-Charge 'N Go' non-gas station is located in the city of San Bernardino. Mr. Torkan credited his wife with spurring him on to innovate with the environment forefront of mind. Good job.

Innovate Transportation Projects also went to Waste Management for deploying 1000 Natural Gas Solid Waste Collection Vehicles.

Promotion of Good Environmental Stewardship went to Enterprise Holdings  for commitment to sustainable transportation. I have friends who rent Prius' from Enterprise for long trips.

Public Education on Air Quality Issues was won by who knew? Maroon 5. An award-winning pop rock band featuring lead vocalist Adam Levine (who I know from being a judge on The Voice), an active member of the Green Music Group, which is a large-scale coalition of music professionals and fans who green their concerts to stimulate positive environmental progress.

Also, Maroon 5 participates in the Patagonia Music Collective, where fans purchase exclusive tracks and all profits go to green causes. If you want to buy a song and benefit the environment, click here.

Los Angeles has made significant strides toward cleaner air, and the fact is, we have much further to go. To see the 2012 American Lung Association report for the state of the air in Los Angeles, click here.

To follow my clean air search and explore air pollution solutions together, subscribe to the Chasing Clean Air RSS feed!

Lester Brown's Plan B is a Fabulous Environmental PBS Film

Last night I happened upon the amazing, highly recommended PBS 90-minute film, which is based on the environmentalist and globally-respected thinker, Lester Brown's Plan B book series:

Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

The biggest take-away of the film, which beautifully illustrates global problems and solutions through Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, New Delhi, Rome, Istanbul, Ankara, and Washington, DC, is this:

There is an urgent need now for government to create a massive response to our energy and climate change problems.

Harness the wind, the sun, and geothermal. On massive scales.

President Roosevelt's response to WW11 was given as an example of how this could happen. Roosevelt went to auto makers and told them that instead of building cars they'd build tanks. And within a very short period of time, the US was ready for war on a massive scale.

Japan

I wanted to express my condolences and sympathy for Japan's people during their earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear tragedy.

I have great respect for Japan, its people, customs, and products.

I am personally indebted to Japan for bringing me pleasure combined with reliability through my Nikon camera and awesome lenses, my 13 year old Lexus that never breaks down and provides a safe and comfortable ride, my 5-year old Sony flat screen TV that never breaks and provides excellent pictures.

My love for sushi and seaweed salad at local Japanese restaurants, wherever I travel, visiting Japanese gardens, and now I'm learning how civilized a culture can be based on how they treat one another during a disaster.

Japan's 8.9 Earthquake Causes Nuke Plant Radiation 1000x Above Normal: What Californians and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Can Learn

Are California's two active nuclear power plants safe should a major earthquake occur?

According to news reports, in the aftermath of Japan's 8.9 earthquake, people are being evacuated near the Japanese Fukushima Prefecture Nuclear Power Plant due to radiation levels a 1000x more than normal.

The emergency cooling system of this 40 year old plant has not been functioning properly.

Authorities fear a meltdown.

Since I started this piece, there was an explosion of exterior walls containing nuclear reactor, and with more aftershocks bombarding the infrastructure...

Are California's two active nuclear power plants safe should a major earthquake occur? California is on the same Pacific Ring of Fire as Japan, where the world's biggest earthquakes and volcanic action take place.

In 2008, the active Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant near San Luis Obispo was found to be located within 1/2 mile of a newly discovered earthquake faultline dubbed the Shoreline Fault.

Prior to new fault discovery, the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant was said to be able to withstand a 7.5 earthquake.

Japan's mega-8.9 earthquake, which I read occurred 80 miles offshore, should be a wake-up call to the Nuclear Regulatory Industry and Americans, who, if they don't know already, should be aware that seismologists have been predicting the big one in California. We don't know where or when. But it's coming.

(I was in Los Angeles for the 6.7 Northridge earthquake. I can't imagine a worse earthquake. The ground shook violently. The sound was loud. Glass shattered. Walls cracked. TVs and computers fell. I thought that was the big one. Not. I can't imagine what the 8.9 Japan mega-quake felt like.)

The active Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant on California's central coast is in an upscale Avila Beach community, (which I happen to really like) with many environmentally-aware and educated folks.

I'm sure they'll pay special attention to whether renewing and funding the Diablo nuclear power plant's license in order to continue operation is wise.

This decision potentially affects everyone.

Winds blow. Waters flow.