General Discussion

Hekate

(100,133 posts)

84. 1965 my parents moved to So Cal. The air was awful then

Thu Jan 17, 2013, 03:27 PM

Jan 2013

Due to my dad's job, we lived near Ontario Airport, about an hour out of Los Angeles and about 20 miles from an active steel mill in Fontana. The air was foul much of the time.

People kept mentioning that there was a mountain close by, and how Mount Baldy was a great place to hike and ski. They would point, and since I couldn't see it, I assumed it must actually be really far away. Until one day that first summer I was outside wearing polarized sunglasses; they filtered the smog and all of a sudden I saw the biggest damn mountain I'd ever been near. It had been completely hidden by the smog.

Mount Baldy was indeed beautiful. Some days my friends and I would drive up as far as we could go, and look at the layers and layers of brown and yellow and gray smog below. If we got high enough my trachea would stop burning.

The air all across So Cal is much cleaner since then, though it could be better still. China can clean up its act if it gets motivated -- it has been done, it can be done.

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The Smog In China Should Terrify You [View all] octoberlib Jan 2013 OP

beyond absurd tk2kewl Jan 2013 #1

This is the poisonous fruit of the "free trade" tree. Romulox Jan 2013 #2

+1,000 freshwest Jan 2013 #13

Absolutely. At the beginning of the industrial age London had problems because of burning coal. jwirr Jan 2013 #19

Very much so. And believe it or not, some big wigs here supported moving the polluting industries freshwest Jan 2013 #23

+One Jillion. You are so right on, fresh! BlancheSplanchnik Jan 2013 #60

There was a poison fog in London in 1952 csziggy Jan 2013 #39

much of migration from Britain to America was because of polluted cities bigtree Jan 2013 #67

If you dig on the BBC radio sites somewhere you'll find a great 60th anniversary series about it Blue_Tires Jan 2013 #70

Yes, free trade outsources our pollution to other countries... prairierose Jan 2013 #54

It's even worse--if the stuff were made here, it would be under our standards. Romulox Jan 2013 #55

Exactly and that is another big reason that ... prairierose Jan 2013 #69

China has the capability of moving fast on things like this. randome Jan 2013 #3

Wouldn't that be Chernobyl? Fumesucker Jan 2013 #8

Forgot about that little 'incident'. randome Jan 2013 #18

Ur was abandoned AngryAmish Jan 2013 #21

No money to be made in cleaning it up siligut Jan 2013 #47

It's absurd to think this much pollution doesn't have an effect on the global environment Hugabear Jan 2013 #4

That's why international agreements and enforcement are needed. moondust Jan 2013 #12

Yes, we will be drawn together, we need to work on how to do it. freshwest Jan 2013 #14

we'll pull together datasuspect Jan 2013 #16

Climate Change bongbong Jan 2013 #33

Keep your friends close, and your tasty friends closer Kennah Jan 2013 #56

In 19th Century Britain, smog was considered an emblem of success Bucky Jan 2013 #5

When I got a job at a steel mill in Chicago the sky was filkled with smoke. former9thward Jan 2013 #9

sweep yer chimbley guv? datasuspect Jan 2013 #17

See? So-called "polluters" are really job creators! I call them heroes. Bucky Jan 2013 #46

No doubt the Chinese environmental movement is gaining great strength from this Uncle Joe Jan 2013 #31

But it's so CHEAP to manufacture goods in China! RomneyLies Jan 2013 #6

Walmart G_j Jan 2013 #7

At least we have our cool iPhones! hugo_from_TN Jan 2013 #22

Not just the air. bighart Jan 2013 #65

In November, 2003 my husband and I LibertyLover Jan 2013 #10

Well now she is already almost 10 years older...and I'll bet healthy as can be. Auntie Bush Jan 2013 #20

She is indeed hale and hearty and healthy LibertyLover Jan 2013 #53

Wow. Fantastic. Bless you. Gregorian Jan 2013 #26

Thank you but LibertyLover Jan 2013 #52

but see, that's ok because your "selfish" desire motivated you to do something Good. BlancheSplanchnik Jan 2013 #61

That is a fascinating way of looking at it - LibertyLover Jan 2013 #64

I love your comment. It makes sense. Gregorian Jan 2013 #87

that would be here if laruemtt Jan 2013 #11

It certainly does. kenny blankenship Jan 2013 #15

title should be 'check out america under republican dominance' leftyohiolib Jan 2013 #24

If America wants to bring its manufacturing base back home, GliderGuider Jan 2013 #28

This is not the case. We know what we have to do, and it can be done. Hekate Jan 2013 #42

So remind me again how much the Republican LOVE them some EPA? Sheepshank Jan 2013 #25

This is the entirely expected pinnacle of GlobCiv 1.0 GliderGuider Jan 2013 #27

Respiratory disorders must be off the charts there. lpbk2713 Jan 2013 #29

Wheres the friggin outrage? bunnies Jan 2013 #30

This is the real geopolitics of power in action. GliderGuider Jan 2013 #36

They could complain kenny blankenship Jan 2013 #72

London had its "pea soup fog" in the 19th century; Los Angeles had its smog in the 20th Hekate Jan 2013 #32

In both cases, the price of cleaning up the air was the loss of global economic dominance GliderGuider Jan 2013 #35

I don't think this is the case. The sun setting on the British Empire had nothing to do with... Hekate Jan 2013 #41

I understand why you think that way. GliderGuider Jan 2013 #49

+1 ellisonz Jan 2013 #57

I remember flying to London in the '80s. RebelOne Jan 2013 #37

They are a foggy city, as I understand it. "Pea soup fog" had a lot of coal smoke in it. Hekate Jan 2013 #40

For London at least the coal smoke was the main culprit - and went back centuries. whopis01 Jan 2013 #66

That's from burning our coal n/t doc03 Jan 2013 #34

How bizarre, since China is a continent with many natural resources of its own Hekate Jan 2013 #43

They do buy a lot of our coal, coal fired plants in this country have doc03 Jan 2013 #45

WOW Day has become Night lovuian Jan 2013 #38

Who needs regulations malaise Jan 2013 #44

That looks like Los Angeles in the early 60's. I remember. Gregorian Jan 2013 #48

As bad as it is in China, the smog in Donora, PA in 1948 may have been worse.... OldDem2012 Jan 2013 #50

That pollution ends up in the US panader0 Jan 2013 #51

Yep. Xithras Jan 2013 #78

tell me about it shanti Jan 2013 #83

Maybe the Maya got it correct Kennah Jan 2013 #58

Nah...not really. AverageJoe90 Jan 2013 #62

One thing different this time, it's scientists, not clergy, predicting bad things to come Kennah Jan 2013 #88

Yes, but not on the level of apocalypse, as some have routinely claimed. AverageJoe90 Jan 2013 #90

Nice pictures. That is what progress looks like to the republicans! n/t Victor_c3 Jan 2013 #59

There was another threat on this that I posted on davidpdx Jan 2013 #63

I was in Wuxi back in 2009 hogwyld Jan 2013 #86

It is only going to get worse davidpdx Jan 2013 #92

I feel sick just looking at that. Odin2005 Jan 2013 #68

This is not China's air. This is everyone's air, planetwide. Air knows no borders. Coyotl Jan 2013 #71

Anything we or Europe do about greenhouse gases is a drop in the bucket KamaAina Jan 2013 #77

This is the cost of unchecked economic growth. Undaunted Jan 2013 #73

Welcome to DU, up to 3 posts already! Agschmid Jan 2013 #74

Yeah I've been lurking for a while, finally decided to make an account. Undaunted Jan 2013 #75

Lurked long time, but now posting a new post every 90 seconds!! Talk about Undaunted!! Melinda Jan 2013 #81

I'm glad you like my screen name. Undaunted Jan 2013 #82

Thanks Skinner! Agschmid Jan 2013 #85

This could be the United States liberal N proud Jan 2013 #76

This WAS the United States Xithras Jan 2013 #80

1965 my parents moved to So Cal. The air was awful then Hekate Jan 2013 #84

We visited my parent's friend in Santa Monica in the mid-60s. kwassa Jan 2013 #89

Deregulate and this is what you get. aquart Jan 2013 #79

Sad, but true. AverageJoe90 Jan 2013 #91