A new study says California's air pollution levels linked to
global warming increased over much of the past two
decades.
Capital Public Radio's Steve Shadley reports...
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The group Environment California hopes its report will push
the state to adopt stricter clean air regulations in the
future.
California already is trying to reach a goal of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels in the state within
ten years.
But, Environment California's Charlotte Glennie says as more
people move to the state, those standards won't do enough to curb
air pollution.
She says economic growth is at stake...
Glennie: "Especially here in
California where tourism and agriculture are such important
industries. We really need to think about the impact that
global warming will have on our coastlines and on the fertility of
our soil. Really, the most expensive thing we can do is
nothing..."
But, some state lawmakers want to postpone efforts to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, fearing more jobs will be lost during the
recession.
Meantime, the American Lung Association says air pollution causes
an average of 19-thousand premature deaths in California each
year.
The Environment California report is based on federal studies of
air pollution in each state from 1990 to 2007.