Other Highlights
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sarah Hamilton
April 29, 2009 (213) 978-0741
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ANNOUNCES
ANGELENOS BREATHING EASIER
LA shows long-term air quality improvements in
American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report
LOS ANGELES – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced that the Los
Angeles region has made considerable improvements in air quality, dropping
particle pollution levels by 40 percent over the past five years and dropping its
ozone smog levels by more than one quarter over the last decade, according to
the 10th annual American Lung Association State of the Air report.
"Clean air is not only an environmental issue, but also a quality of life issue," said
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "Angelenos are committed to fighting air pollution,
and the City of Los Angeles is at the forefront of finding innovative ways to clean
our air. I am pleased that this year's State of the Air Report shows that our efforts
are working and our air pollution is down. We are showing the world that we can
transform LA into the cleanest and greenest big city in the nation."
Marking steady progress in cleaning the air, Los Angeles received its best
ranking in the ten year history of the State of the Air reports. Los Angeles drops
to number four in the rankings of most polluted in the nation for short-term
particle pollution behind Bakersfield, Pittsburgh, and Fresno-Madera.
Additionally, Los Angeles ranks third in year-round particle pollution, behind
Bakersfield and Pittsburgh.
Mayor Villaraigosa has pledged to make Los Angeles the cleanest and greenest
big city in the country. At the heart of his vision is cleaning the air at the Port of
Los Angeles, the region’s largest point source of pollution. In 2008, the Port
began to take 16,000 dirty diesel trucks off the road in a move to slash portrelated
truck pollution by 80 percent.
The Clean Truck Program is the centerpiece of Mayor Villaraigosa’s Clean Air
Action Plan (CAAP) that targets the five leading causes of pollution at the Ports –
ships, trains, trucks, cargo handling equipment and harbor craft. It aims to slash
overall port pollution by 45% or more.
The State of the Air report includes a national air quality “report card” that
assigns A-F grades to counties across the country and ranks cities and counties
most affected by the three most widespread types of pollution (ozone [or smog],
annual particle pollution, and 24-hour particle pollution levels). The report also
details trends for the 25 most polluted cities. Grades for the 1,000 counties with
air pollution monitors can be found at www.stateoftheair.org .
Every year 2,400 premature deaths statewide and 1,200 in the South Coast
Basin are caused by port related pollution, according to the California Air
Resource Board. Asthma rates among children living in neighborhoods within the
vicinity of the ports – 15 percent of all children under 17 – are double the national
average, while dock workers and truck drivers face significantly elevated risks of
lung and oropharyngeal (throat) cancer, according to US Census figures and
local studies.
The operation from the ports account for more than 20 percent of the toxic air
emissions in the South Coast Air Basin – and more smog and particulate-forming
nitrogen oxide emissions than all 6 million cars in the region, according to the
South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), adopted by Mayor Villaraigosa in November
2006, is a comprehensive plan to address and curb emissions from port-related
sources – ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbor craft. The CAAP
will cut port-related emissions by 45 percent or more over a five-year period,
including: 47 percent reduction in diesel particulate matter; 45 percent reduction
in nitrogen oxides; and 52 percent reduction in sulfur oxides.
Drafted with extensive input from environmental, community, industry
stakeholders, the CAAP also commits the Ports to invest in hundreds of millions
of dollars in air quality improvement programs.
# # #
April 29, 2009 (213) 978-0741
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ANNOUNCES
ANGELENOS BREATHING EASIER
LA shows long-term air quality improvements in
American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report
LOS ANGELES – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced that the Los
Angeles region has made considerable improvements in air quality, dropping
particle pollution levels by 40 percent over the past five years and dropping its
ozone smog levels by more than one quarter over the last decade, according to
the 10th annual American Lung Association State of the Air report.
"Clean air is not only an environmental issue, but also a quality of life issue," said
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "Angelenos are committed to fighting air pollution,
and the City of Los Angeles is at the forefront of finding innovative ways to clean
our air. I am pleased that this year's State of the Air Report shows that our efforts
are working and our air pollution is down. We are showing the world that we can
transform LA into the cleanest and greenest big city in the nation."
Marking steady progress in cleaning the air, Los Angeles received its best
ranking in the ten year history of the State of the Air reports. Los Angeles drops
to number four in the rankings of most polluted in the nation for short-term
particle pollution behind Bakersfield, Pittsburgh, and Fresno-Madera.
Additionally, Los Angeles ranks third in year-round particle pollution, behind
Bakersfield and Pittsburgh.
Mayor Villaraigosa has pledged to make Los Angeles the cleanest and greenest
big city in the country. At the heart of his vision is cleaning the air at the Port of
Los Angeles, the region’s largest point source of pollution. In 2008, the Port
began to take 16,000 dirty diesel trucks off the road in a move to slash portrelated
truck pollution by 80 percent.
The Clean Truck Program is the centerpiece of Mayor Villaraigosa’s Clean Air
Action Plan (CAAP) that targets the five leading causes of pollution at the Ports –
ships, trains, trucks, cargo handling equipment and harbor craft. It aims to slash
overall port pollution by 45% or more.
The State of the Air report includes a national air quality “report card” that
assigns A-F grades to counties across the country and ranks cities and counties
most affected by the three most widespread types of pollution (ozone [or smog],
annual particle pollution, and 24-hour particle pollution levels). The report also
details trends for the 25 most polluted cities. Grades for the 1,000 counties with
air pollution monitors can be found at www.stateoftheair.org .
Every year 2,400 premature deaths statewide and 1,200 in the South Coast
Basin are caused by port related pollution, according to the California Air
Resource Board. Asthma rates among children living in neighborhoods within the
vicinity of the ports – 15 percent of all children under 17 – are double the national
average, while dock workers and truck drivers face significantly elevated risks of
lung and oropharyngeal (throat) cancer, according to US Census figures and
local studies.
The operation from the ports account for more than 20 percent of the toxic air
emissions in the South Coast Air Basin – and more smog and particulate-forming
nitrogen oxide emissions than all 6 million cars in the region, according to the
South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), adopted by Mayor Villaraigosa in November
2006, is a comprehensive plan to address and curb emissions from port-related
sources – ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment and harbor craft. The CAAP
will cut port-related emissions by 45 percent or more over a five-year period,
including: 47 percent reduction in diesel particulate matter; 45 percent reduction
in nitrogen oxides; and 52 percent reduction in sulfur oxides.
Drafted with extensive input from environmental, community, industry
stakeholders, the CAAP also commits the Ports to invest in hundreds of millions
of dollars in air quality improvement programs.
# # #