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We're No. 1... in apathy!
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Posted by baketown Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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It’s a little hard for me believe that this is still considered “news” but the headline on today’s paper reads, “We’re No. 1…in smog.”  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Tell me something I didn’t know.  Sure, past reports have put us in second, or third, but I never bought it.  It only takes a couple of trips down the grapevine to get a pretty good idea of how unclear our air is.  That’s why I’m always taking pictures of clouds.  I’m keep thinking, “Look!  It’s the sky! Quick – that a picture before it disappears under a thick blanket of goop again.”

So, according to this new study by the American Lung Association, Bakersfield now takes the lead in having the worst air around.  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside is in second.  That means that Bakersfield, a city with roughly the same size population at Long Beach, around 450,000, has more ozone pollution than L.A, with a population of roughly 9 million, and Riverside, with a population of over 4 million.  What the hell??

The biggest reason for all of this, or course, is those wonderful mountains we have surrounding us on three sides.  Makes for a nice little catch-all for crap.  Crap being the stuff released into the air from all cars and trucks driving up and down I-5, agricultural pollution and, or course, just plain ol’ people pollution.  

I know that the first two have a lot to do with our bad air, they have a WHOLE lot to do with it.  But I gotta tell you, I don’t think another city exists that contains so many people who just really don’t give a rats ass.  Some people care and try to do their part, but over all I find most people’s apathetic approach to improving our environment extremely frustrating.  They read the news, grumble about our air, then hop in their gas guzzlers and park it in the drive through lane.  

From what I can tell, they sure don’t seem to be worried about the air around here, good, bad, or otherwise.

Link here to read more by Bake Town.

 

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Comment From: matt

I was in SB for the weekend and didn't cough once. I got allergies like crazy. Back to Bako and I'm about to lose a lung! Comment From: qwejibo

I was in Laguna last weekend and had the same experience. It was nice to see a blue sky for awhile. Comment From: glenda

Everybody complains about it, but nobody does anything! Why is that? Comment From: qwejibo

cuz we're lazy... I read somewhere that the air, albeit dirty, is actually cleaner now than in the 70's and 80's Comment From: pluto

honestly I don't think that it has half as much to do with the auto's out there on I5 or anywhere in the SJV... not saying that it doesn't contribute to it but I think that it's far from the leader of pollutants in our area. #1 I would think are all these dairys and the fact that all these agg areas are bombed out with all sorts of wierd chemical mixtures,,, safe for humans my ass. But hey what I love about Bakersfield is the fact that without the bad you can't have the good. When we have a clear day I don't know about you but I take in as much of it as I can and have a greater appreciation for it. But hey that's just my 2 cents.