Smog Fighters Worried Trump Will Undermine State’s War Against Air Pollution
For Californians, the smog used to be "agonizing." But there have been great strides in the past few decades to make the air breathable again, and some are worried the new administration will roll back those advances.
Los Angeles Times:
Will Trump Erect A Roadblock To Southern California's Decades-Long Fight Against Smog?
State and local authorities began attacking the problem in the ’40s.... But gradually officials began winning victories in the battle against smog: lifting the pall, ending the Stage 3 smog alerts that used to shutter factories, schools and courtrooms, and making the air breathable again, if far from perfectly healthy. But now smog fighters warn that Trump, who Wednesday said his administration would re-examine national emission standards, seems ready undermine California’s war against air pollution by limiting its power to set its own stricter rules. (Barboza, 3/17)
In other news —
KQED:
Bay Area Lawmakers Outraged Over Trump’s Push To Eliminate Federal Refinery Regulator
Local leaders and health officials in Contra Costa County, home to four oil refineries, are blasting a part of President Trump’s budget that calls for cutting all money for the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents. Trump’s spending plan aims to eliminate funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which has conducted hundreds of probes, including one into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Goldberg, 3/17)