We can't go on living this way

As the air quality in the Valley has deteriorated, our choices of what to do about it have dwindled to two: We can get serious about the painful task of cleaning the air, or we can all stand around and watch the Valley begin to die.

(Updated Monday, December 16, 2002, 6:02 AM)

The task of cleaning up the Valley’s filthy air is so immense that it seems hard to know even where to begin. But the answer is really very simple: Begin everywhere. There is no aspect of our lives in this region that isn’t touched by the increasingly foul fingerprints of air pollution.

It’s a health issue: asthma and other respiratory ailments are rampant in the Valley. It is an especially cruel environment for the kids we say we care about so much; childhood asthma rates are among the worst in the country, and even healthy children are robbed when bad air restricts their activities.

HAZY VIEW: A bicyclist rides across the Stanislaus overcrossing in downtown Fresno with a smog-covered Security Bank building in the background. (Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee)

It’s an economic issue: Pollution costs us plenty, in lost work because of illness (and higher health costs of all sorts), in damage to crops and in lost opportunities to bring new businesses and jobs to the region.

It’s a political issue: The question of what restrictions are appropriate on our behavior - especially in the area of land use and planning - is often decided less on the basis of science than on the thrust and parry of ideological debate, or the baser motive of profit. Several generations of government leaders at federal, state and local levels have abdicated their duty to the public interest.

But they’re not entirely to blame. The principal obstacle has been the reluctance - or downright refusal - of much of the public to take the problem seriously. We no longer have that luxury. That’s clear from The Bee’s massive special report on air quality in today’s paper.

It’s also clear that the debate can no longer be about whether we have an air quality problem in the Valley, or whether it’s bad enough to warrant action. We do, and it is. The issues to resolve are what we are going to do about it and how we will manage the pain that our solutions bring.

HAZY WORK: A farmworker kicks up dust while raking almonds in an orchard north of Coalinga. Farmers say they have worked hard to oil unpaved roads and water others to keep down the dust. (Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee)

And there will be pain. Some of our most cherished notions are going to have to be abandoned. Others will have to be dramatically curtailed. And the cost will be high.

We cannot, for instance, continue to ignore the deadly effects of our decades-old symbiosis with the fossil fuel-burning internal combustion engine, particularly in our trucks and cars. Our cherished convenience may suffer a great deal before we’ve cleaned up the air hereabouts. But we’ll have to learn to live with that.

We cannot allow our residences to be built farther and farther from job centers and urban cores, nor can we continue to spread them out over large pieces of land. Given our enslavement to the private vehicle, that just increases traffic and congestion, which makes the air even worse.

We can no longer tolerate the inequitable state of affairs in agriculture, which enjoys an exemption from pollution regulations that apply to all other businesses. The ag industry is going to have to learn to live without the convenience of burning its trash in open fields, and find new ways to reduce dust and other particulate pollution. In particular, the industry is going to have to find alternatives to the diesel engines used to power irrigation pumps and other farm equipment. All that will raise the cost of food and fiber to consumers, but we’ll have to learn to live with that.

BREATH TEST: Raqeeb Abdulmuniem, 8, of Miramonte, is tested for lung volume and flow at Children's Hospital Central California in Madera County. He spent the weekend in the hospital because of a serious asthma attack. One in six Fresno County children has asthma, the highest rate in the state. (Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee)

Fireplaces can create a cozy and inviting milieu, and in some homes they provide the only heat available in winter. But they also account for a huge fraction of the soot and ash in our wintertime air - and that can be deadly. We no longer have the luxury of using wood-burning fireplaces for ambience or warmth. We’ll just have to learn to live with that.

Hair spray and other aerosol products emit ozone. Gas-powered leaf blowers and other yard care equipment are significant sources of pollution. Off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles often produce much more pollution than newer cars. Charcoal grills - and especially the lighter fluid we often use to start them - are pollution sources. All of these, and many more modern conveniences, may have to be restricted or even banned. We’ll have to learn to live with that.

There’s more. Paints and solvents haphazardly stored in residential garages can be a source of air pollution. Aggressive driving pollutes more than driving slowly and patiently. Free parking for employees at work is a disincentive to carpooling and mass transit use.

POLLUTERS: Millions of tons of waste from the Valley's 1.1 million dairy cows turns into gases that add to the air problem. (Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee)

One of the impediments to progress against air pollution in the past 40 years has been the distressing tendency on the part of Valley residents to try to shift the blame. We like to stand in a large circle, point at the person on our right, and shout loudly, “It’s his fault!” Well, it is his fault. It’s also her fault, and their fault, and your fault and ours. We are all part of the problem. We must all be part of the solutions.

And we must begin to apply those solutions right now. We are out of time. This is no longer a matter of dodging some bureaucratic deadline set in Sacramento or back there in Washington, D.C. We’ve blown all those deadlines - every single one.

This is not about mad scientists shrieking about the sky falling. It’s not about Bay Area crud wafting over our heads. It’s not all the fault of urban drivers, or Valley farmers, or any other single group. We dug this hole together, we filled it with filth, and we jumped in and tried to pretend that it was pleasant. We can’t go on living this way. And we won’t.