By Tom Frantz The Central Valley Air Quality Coalition (CVAQ) and other air quality advocates have long stated the need for tighter rules on the Valley’s biggest stationary sources of pollution. [...] Continue Reading
Clearing the Air
Clearing the Air: Worst Air Ever Not Our Fault?
By Tom Frantz The past December and January saw the Central Valley with the worst levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) since monitors for this type of pollution were put in place in 2001. We [...] Continue Reading
Distortions and Lies—Air District Annual Report: Clearing the Air, Feb. 2014
By Tom Frantz The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (the Air Board) has just approved its annual report to the community for 2013. The report details the marvelous job the Air Board [...] Continue Reading
A Path to Clean Air: Clearing the Air – Jan. 2014
By Tom Frantz The New Year is a time for hope. In terms of air quality, it is a good time to reflect on the path to clean air that the Central Valley could follow if the political will existed among [...] Continue Reading
Air Board Publicity Stunt: Clearing the Air – December 2013
By Tom Frantz The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Board (Air Board) has recently submitted a request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a determination of compliance [...] Continue Reading
Clean Air Is an Unreasonable Expectation – Clearing the Air – November 2013
By Tom Frantz Last month, I wrote about the false “Air Alert” declared in August by our Valley Air Board. The alert involved a big media campaign asking people to carpool and not idle their cars so [...] Continue Reading
Clearing the Air: The Great False Air Alert of 2013
By Tom Frantz Central Valley ozone sometimes reaches extreme health-endangering levels in late summer when school starts. These spikes in one-hour ozone levels have been part of the reason that [...] Continue Reading
Clearing the Air — September 2013: Fracking and Air Quality
By Tom Frantz The biggest stationary sources of air pollution in the southern half of the Central Valley are directly related to oil production. Diesel trucks do not damage our lungs as much as this [...] Continue Reading
Clearing the Air – August 2013: Goods Movement in the San Joaquin Valley
By Tom Frantz Members of the San Joaquin Valley Air Board are often heard blaming our pollution problems on the diesel trucks traveling Valley highways nonstop between Los Angeles and the Bay Area. [...] Continue Reading
Strictest Rules in the Nation? – Clearing the Air – July 2013
By Tom Frantz The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Board likes to brag about having the toughest air pollution controls in the nation. Unfortunately, given that we have the worst air [...] Continue Reading
How Not To Fight Climate Change: Clearing the Air – June 2013
By Tom Frantz Our lungs are being violated by misguided climate change action in Sacramento. Simultaneously, our Valley Air Board is facilitating this environmental injustice. First, some [...] Continue Reading
Clearing the Air – May 2013: Protecting Public Health by Promoting Polluting Projects
By Tom Frantz You have to see it to believe it. Our air district does not keep our health in its best interests. Instead, it claims new pollution is good for us. There is a Kern County power plant [...] Continue Reading