Originally Posted by moondog
my friend's mom is an expert on the LA environment (used to be very high up in the EPA) and she tells me that the pollution situation is much better (on all counts) today than it was in 1970.
That's not saying much.
And this is from someone who lived in the LA metro area until 1971. Air pollution there in the 1950's and 1960's was beyond awful. The truth is, it's not so easy to stay ahead of the curve; although cars (for example) emit far less pollution than they did 40-50 years ago, there's a LOT more of them now than then!
Incidentally, I've seen OTHER statistics that show that several California metro areas DO rank up there with the worst air-polluted cities in the US.
A notable exception, however, is San Francisco, which actually has some of the cleanest air in the country. I believe it's because there's a stiff wind off the open ocean, and the pollution blows inland! (This is coming from someone who lives just two blocks from the ocean, and whose air is always clean and fresh and cool.... ^ )