
Gavin Newsom: Put a Qualified Environmentalist on the AQMD Board to Clean Up LA's Air

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After 30 years of improvement, Southern California’s air quality is getting worse. The region has the worst ozone pollution in the country, and climate change is making that pollution more deadly. In 2019, the LA Times reported that there was a 10% increase in deaths attributable to ozone pollution in the last decade.
We must take action now to reduce emissions and improve our air quality. Clean air saves lives. Reducing emissions saves the planet.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is responsible for improving air quality in the greater Los Angeles area. There is one open seat on the Governing Board. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom nominated a former ExxonMobil executive for the seat. After residents protested he was forced to withdraw the nomination.
Now is our chance to make sure a person committed to improving the health of our communities joins the board. We ask Governor Newsom to nominate a public health advocate or environmental justice advocate, from the community not a corporation, to the AQMD Governing Board.
AQMD’s Governing Board is responsible for holding hearings and passing policies and regulations to improve our air. However, the Governing Board is made up of aviation, mining and oil industry insiders and politicians more interested in protecting the interests of corporations than the health of residents.
California has made great strides in reducing its emissions over the past several decades. AQMD deserves credit for the role it has played in that progress. However, the Governing Board has shown that its current membership is not up to making the progress we need now, in the face of potentially catastrophic climate change. A recent exchange between a local resident and the Board chair proved how out of touch he is with even the small changes we need to make in our region to save lives.
Image courtesy Mike McBey used under a Creative Commons license.
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