Breathing is contraindicated - some flee - examples in San Joaquin Valley

[Guest guest]

In 2006, airborne pollutants and ozone had become so frequent that I

began to hike far less in Rocky Mountain National Park. My early years

were spent in the air pollution emanating from the industrial region

stretching from southeast Chicago into northern Indiana (Whiting,

Hammond, , etc). To this day, my lungs are not as good as they might

be. In 2007, I felt like an environmental refugee as I departed Estes

Park, journeyed to, and spent time in Montana, mostly in the mountains

near West Glacier. Alas, Montana and Idaho have so many wildfires that

for several months, air quality was terrible. Park rangers I've chatted

with at Rocky and at Glacier know that finding clean air is ever more

difficult in the US. Peer-reviewed studies document that airborne

pollutants and ozone cause lung pathologies - tho' news articles often

reassure us that healthy adults won't be affected (very much). How much

lung injury is acceptable? Personally, I want as little as possible. To

what extent ought we consider that clean air is a luxury we can do

without? When lung tissue utilizes glutathione for detoxification, are

other intra-body detox processes less effective as necessary nutrients

become depleted?

Today's Fresno Bee has two excellent articles about air pollution and

people fleeing air pollution. The Fresno Bee also has an in-depth

investigative series linked on the articles' urls. Importantly, many

locales iin the US have suboptimal air. An economy is other than sacred

when its processes cause widespread injury to humans. We all contribute

to non-pristine air, some of us more than others. Can we envision

solutions that will cause real and lasting improvements? Or are western

civilization and modern society akin to the Titanic after it hit the

iceberg? Does a parent chelating an autistic child in a locale with bad

air have a right to expect cleaner air?

- - - -

*Fleeing Valley's unhealthy air*

By Barbara / The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263223.html

The price tag for cleaning the air runs into the billions. But there's

another expense that's harder to calculate -- the cost of not cleaning

the air. Experts say Valley residents pay for dirty air in the loss of

" human capital " -- skilled workers the region needs to prosper. Some of

the Valley's most valuable employees, fed up with waiting for better

air, are leaving. Among them are doctors, dentists, nurses and other

educated workers who are already in short supply. Smog also hurts the

Valley's reputation and discourages skilled workers from taking jobs here...

- - - -

*

Fighting for air*

With months of deadly pollution each year, the Valley faces decades of

cleanup.

Stories by Barbara , Clemings

and Mark Grossi / The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263215.html

M. Rehart finally just had to leave. Her family has lived in

the central San Joaquin Valley since 1873. As a popular local historian,

she symbolizes the place perhaps as well as anyone. But her life was at

stake. " When we have bad-air days, if I take a step outside of my house,

I'm just coughing until I almost pass out, " she said one day last

summer, just before moving to Oregon...

- - - -

*My smog and ozone photos* in and near Rocky Mountain National Park and

nearby locales

http://www.pbase.com/aspergerian/smog_in_colorado_rockies

- - - -

Interactive report

Get a close look

<http://www.fresnobee.com/static/2007/flash/airproject/> at the Valley's

air-quality problem with audio, video, animations, and an interactive

quiz and game. You also can check the smog-test results of any

California vehicle or light truck.

Stories

* Introduction: Fighting for air

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263215.html>

* State smog test leaves polluters on the road

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263217.html>

* Stiffer rules could speed cleanup

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263219.html>

* Fleeing Valley's unhealthy air

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263223.html>

* Trapped by the Valley's air

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263231.html>

* Fresno is state's asthma capital

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263218.html>

* Researchers looking for answers

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263230.html>

* Farmers join clear-air fight

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263221.html>

* Innovations for diesel vehicles stalled

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263232.html>

* Stringent state rules still lack bite

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263225.html>

* What has changed in five years?

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263227.html>

* Valley air district defends improvement plan

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263220.html>

* District's ozone strategy could backfire

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263208.html>

* Air officials to explore drift of LA basin pollution

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263228.html>

* Clean air can happen <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263229.html>

* Who is on the Valley air board?

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/250421.html>

* Contacts, links to air-quality information

<http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/257654.html>

Escaping smog

These families and people have left the Valley, blaming health problems

caused by air pollution.

* Bob Claypool <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263222.html>

* Jennings <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263210.html>

* The Julin family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263216.html>

* The Morphy family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263214.html>

* M. Rehart <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263233.html>

* The Schwister family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263234.html>

* The Shaw family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263212.html>

* The Storm family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263224.html>

* The Terry family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263209.html>

* The Whipple family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263226.html>

* The Wiseman family <http://www.fresnobee.com/868/story/263213.html>

Graphics

* Geography makes things worse

<http://www.fresnobee.com/static/2007/pdfs/dbltrouble.pdf>

* Clearing the air: Progress and prognosis

<http://www.fresnobee.com/static/2007/pdfs/clearing_air.pdf>

* The worst places to breathe

<http://www.fresnobee.com/static/2007/pdfs/worstplaces.pdf>