Comment Log Display

As a taxpaying resident of this community for over 20 years, I have
been to many AQMD & CARB public comment forums and meetings over
the years.  Most of the rhetoric I hear in these meetings puts an
overemphasis on residential solutions versus industry solutions
which is disporportionate when compared to the impact of
residential vs industry polluters.  Based on the data we already
have from existing studies & air monitoring, we know that the
Lion's share of pollutants come from industry.  We need the
Community Air Protection Blueprint to clearly indicate where that
priority should be in terms of both solutions and better policies
for enforcement of industry causes such as diesel trucks, equipment
and even railyards. We need this blueprint to priortize zero
emmissions technology NOW, especially in our community colleges
where students are eager to be the next generation of zero emission
mechanics, engineers and workers who support completely renewable
industry in the IE!  With our youth missing over a million days of
school due to asthma and our elders suffering chronic health issues
due to bad air quality, we need mitigation projects that
immediately address the public health of residents surrounded by
freeways filled with polluting trucks every single day! We all know
the rich are not buying homes next to freeways, its the poor and
the marginalized who end up forced to buy these homes or become a
part of our growing homeless population. This is a health crisis
that is bigger than gun violence and takes more lives every day. 
The blueprint needs to convey that sense of urgency and
accountability that has been missing from our decision making
bodies and bring public awareness to our communties about this
issue. The blueprint also needs to demonstrate the severe
consequences for industry polluters by implementing more policy
that protects our community along with penalties for those industry
polluters who do not heed this warning. Communities need to be
empowered by this blueprint, especially those that have been
fighting, mostly unsuccessfully, the over proliferation of
warehouses across the IE. We all breathe this air, but the reality
the lives that will be taken by it, will mostly be the poor, the
uneducated, the marginalized and unheard voices of most vulnerable
community members. Please make sure the priority is clear and that
the solutions are focused on the real problem, industry pollution.