mikey@singingtree.com
4171622
mike.dickerson@pomona.edu
pomonamikey
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204db8e4
So we may not be able to elect presidents or send baseball teams to the World Series, but at least Los Angeles has retaken the lead in this other long-standing rivalry:
[T]he Greater Los Angeles region is again home to the worst smog in the nation, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's latest barometer for measuring the unhealthful haze--a dubious distinction the region has held for most of the last half-century.
Air quality in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties has exceeded the federal health standard for more than 2 1/2 months this year.
"It's a tough job cleaning up the ozone at this point because there are not a lot of easy emissions to target," said Joe Cassmassi, planning and rules manager for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the region's chief smog-fighting agency. "The low-hanging fruit, as a lot of people like to say, has been taken."
Suffice it to say that the pollution is not something I'll miss if I move away from here. And may I be the first to suggest that we adopt a new state motto: "California: The low-hanging fruit has been taken." Feel free to sign my petition for a ballot initiative, but I'm not paying you a dollar.
14 Nov 2005 21:43 PT - persistent link - trackback - 0 comments