Mountain air not so fresh

[The Straight Story]

Mountain air not so fresh
Study prompts calls for permanent monitoring

FRAZIER PARK — Perched in the mountains between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, this tiny mountain community and others nearby have long been a haven for those who want to escape the choking smog, traffic congestion and ever-sprawling landscape to the north and south.

Linda MacKay is an active resident when it comes ot issues involving valley smog creeping into Frazier Park. To the left of MacKay is Interstate 5 near Lebec looking north towards Bakersfield.

But that pristine image was tarnished recently when the results of a yearlong air quality monitoring in nearby Lebec were released.

snip...

The likely cause of the smog is vehicle exhaust from Interstate 5, said Scott Nester, planning director for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, which covers a portion of the mountain communities.

“It looks like (the area is) getting impacted significantly by the highway,” Nester said.

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/299849.html

[Warpy]

1. Air all over the far west is also gettting nailed

by coal pollution from Asia. At least two new coal fired electric plants are coming online per week in China, alone. Plus, people in the colder areas heat their homes with blocks of compressed coal dust, the cheapest and dirtiest heat around.

China is slowly waking up to the fact that their air is too filthy to be healthy, especially the air quality for the Olympics. Whether or not it translates into a program of trying to develop clean and renewable energy as they become a richer country is anyone's guess.

For now, they're dirtying not only their own air, but ours.