Combating Pollution in Los Angeles: How One City is Improving Air Quality
In April 2016, the American Lung Association (ALA) released its annual State of the Air (SOTA) report, a comprehensive analysis of two of the most prevalent forms of air pollution — ozone pollution, which is the chief component of smog, and particle pollution, which refers to the solid and liquid pollutants floating in the air. Among its key findings was that Los Angeles continues to suffer the worst ozone pollution of all US cities. It also ranks fourth for “Year-Round Particle Pollution” and ninth for “Short-Term Particle Pollution” (over a 24-hour period), with Bakersfield taking the top spot in both cases.
In some ways, the rankings are not surprising — it’s no secret that Southern California contains several of the most polluted areas in the country, which in turn continues to create a raft of health problems for its residents. Released in 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 National Air Toxics Assessment formulated a Respiratory Hazard Index to assess the extent to which various regions across the U.S. are at risk of experiencing non-cancer adverse health effects stemming from the presence of harmful air toxins. An index value below 1.00 indicates that respiratory pollutants are unlikely to increase the risk of such effects over a lifetime, while a value of greater than 1 means further monitoring is needed to determine if the pollutant levels will cause non-cancer adverse health effects. A higher index value, therefore, implies a more concerning situation; Los Angeles has a value of 2.83, with some zip codes having an index as high as 7 or 8:
A joint study released last year by New York University and the American Thoracic Society estimates that there are 1,341 avoidable deaths per year from pollution in the Los Angeles metro area (and 800 in the Riverside-San Bernardino area). That makes Los Angeles’ air quality the most fatal in the nation.
However, what the SOTA 2016 headline rankings don’t reflect is the transformation Los Angeles has undergone in improving air pollution levels in recent years. Delving a little deeper into the report reveals that the city achieved its best overall air quality score since the ALA began conducting its yearly reports back in 2004. Indeed, Los Angeles’ recent history has been one of a consistently improved record when it comes to tackling its air pollution problem.
Los Angeles: 50 years of air quality improvements
The geography of the Los Angeles Basin has historically been conducive to the formation of persistent pollution. The surrounding mountains combined with frequent temperature inversions — that is, layers in the atmosphere where temperatures increase with height — create regular “pollution traps” beneath the inversion layer. By the 1950s/60s, however, rapid industrialization and a sharp rise in road vehicle usage in the city dramatically exacerbated the problem.
Since then, much action has been taken to clean the air. Although the 1960s saw California enact emissions standards for cars and the nation implement anti-smog measures, it was the Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970 that provided the first framework to seriously address rising levels of common and toxic pollutants, as well as regulate emissions from both stationary and mobile sources. The CAA also ultimately led to the California state government issuing smog certificates to businesses.
Technology has played a vital role in California’s long-running pollution battle over the years. The installation of catalytic converters in road vehicles from the mid-1970s onwards has arguably been the most pivotal development, especially as vehicles have consistently represented the largest source of Los Angeles’ aggregate emissions. Indeed, the catalytic converter is described as “the key piece of technology that allowed everything to change,” by Mary Nichols, Chair of California’s Air Resources Board. Cleaner cars helped lower the levels of particularly harmful vehicle-related air pollutants known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by about 98% between the 1960s and 2010. VOCs emerge from vehicle tailpipes and contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone which, in excessive amounts, can cause severe lung damage.
Pollution reduction measures have had a significantly positive impact on residents’ health. A widely-lauded study by the University of Southern California found that over a 20-year period (1993–2012), a concentrated effort to reduce emissions across the spectrum of air pollution sources came with a significant improvement in California children’s respiratory health. The study’s co-author Ed Avol credits those programs “targeting on-road emissions” as being the most effective in bringing about this improvement, as well as fuel reformulations, retiring old fleets of vehicles and targeting heavy-duty diesel.
How is Los Angeles currently working to continue reducing pollution levels?
Much of the improvements in air pollution levels in Los Angeles during the last few years can be credited to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), an agency which has enforced consistently stricter air quality standards for the region’s 17 million people over nearly 20 years. Policies deemed to be effective include those mandating reductions in harmful nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions from refineries. The development of electric vehicles continues to remain well supported, whilst even rules mandating that manufacturers cut smog-inducing ingredients in charcoal briquettes and starter fluid have been established. Rideshare incentives are also offered to many of Los Angeles’ employers, as are carpools and the sustained promotion of using public transit for commuting.
Focusing on Los Angeles itself, the City Council has also made giant strides in helping to further reduce the city’s pollution levels. Acknowledging the disproportionate impact of industrial and traffic pollution on certain communities, last April the Council unanimously approved special land-use restrictions for some of the city’s most polluted neighborhoods. The “Clean Up Green Up” program will subject expanding businesses in specific districts to stricter development regulations — for example, landscaping requirements and buffers between businesses operations and residential buildings in the vicinity.
The Council then took a major step forward in September by establishing a plan to get all of its energy from renewable sources like wind and solar. It voted 12–0 to approve a motion directing the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power to assemble a team to research how to move the city to 100% renewable energy. The Department of Water and Power provides electricity to about 4 million residents and gets about a fifth of its energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass and waste, and nearly half its energy from natural gas, a fossil fuel that would be eliminated under the 100% clean energy goal.
Collaborative efforts, moreover, are proving to be highly effective. The Port of Los Angeles is considered the single largest source of air pollution in Southern California, due to the volume of diesel trucks and ships that move through it. Consequently, the Port inflicts the region’s biggest risk of cancer from air pollution on nearby communities. However, in 2006, the Port of Los Angeles teamed up with the Port of Long Beach to form the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), a joint initiative between the nation’s two largest ports to implement measures to cut maritime-related pollution. Such measures include providing financial incentives for ships with the newest engines or equivalent NOx-reducing technology, which are up to 80% cleaner than their predecessors, as well as providing incentives to ships to reduce speeds to 12 knots when entering the harbor, as slower ships burn less fuel and thus reduce emissions.
So far, the CAAP has been considered a monumental success. Its numerous achievements include reducing diesel particulate matter up to 84%, cutting nitrogen oxides in half, eliminating 97% of sulfur oxides and lowering greenhouse gases by an average of 12%. The CAAP is in the process of being updated for the first time since 2010, with the new plan intent on reducing emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 from ships, trucks and cargo-related equipment including cranes and forklifts.
Can other polluted cities follow Los Angeles’ example?
Whether it’s other US cities that similarly suffer from pollution traps such as Denver, or international cities that have reached crisis levels such as Beijing, there is much to be learned from Los Angeles’ successes.
Below are just a couple of steps that cities can take to begin improving air quality:
1.) Utilize technology and data to both accurately identify the sources of pollution (to which a very recent study carried out on behalf of the SQAMD can attest), and also respond appropriately. mySidewalk offers an air quality data recipe that can be applied to any project area, helping users find locations struggling with air quality. The SQAMD’s latest Air Quality Management Plan (the “battle plan” going forward to achieve specific air quality standards in the South Coast Air Basin, Los Angeles included) identifies one of its key objectives as beginning to “Invest in strategies and technologies meeting multiple objectives regarding air quality, climate change, air toxics exposure, energy, and transportation.”
2.) Get ahead of the curve and take advantage of cleaner energy sources now. Los Angeles’ concerted efforts to eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels provides another trailblazing example that many cities can follow. Regardless of the recent political changes in the U.S., it is becoming increasingly clear that the nation is set for a clean energy boom during the coming years. As such, cities across the country would do well to capitalize on the expected growth in renewable energy now — or be left in the dust later.
The Air Quality Management Plan itself provides useful steps for cities interested in reducing air pollution. The Plan’s handful of objectives and proven strategies — including incentive funding and “enforceable regulatory measures as well as non-regulatory, innovative and ‘win-win’ approaches for emission reductions” — can be applied to most cities experiencing pollution issues.
Los Angeles and the wider Southern Californian region still have a long way to go before the air can be considered safe. However, the continued improvements provide hope and repeatable tactics for cities going through similar crises.
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About the Author
Shashank Pattekar is a freelance economics and finance writer with a BSc in economics from the London School of Economics, and an MSc in mathematical trading & finance from CASS Business School in London. His favorite pastimes include scuba diving and traveling whenever possible. He is also an avid wildlife photographer.
