He seems to be a reasonable man.  It is good there is a medical doctor on the Air Resources Board and not just the usual suspects (politicians).

I read his letter in the paper and felt he made some good points. 

For instance, he explaned that even though one of the members of the air pollution board has questionable qualifications, that still leaves 9 others who are in accord about the particulate matter in the air.

It's hard to discount that many experts who are in agreement.

Lois was wrong in her article, as Dr Balmes points out.  But, here in Kern County, where we have more than our fair share of the state's diesel pollution, our most serious source of fine particulate matter is the secondary particulates.  These are mainly ammonium nitrate particles.  They are formed from ammonia (think dairies) and NOx (all vehicles including trucks).  This ammonium nitrate formation during our cool and moist nights is why our PM 2.5 levels have not been improving the past several years even while diesel pollution is decreasing due to regulation.  Our PM 2.5 shoots way up this time of year even though diesel pollution is pretty steady year round.

alllois said was that CARB has a credibility problem with a person with fake credentials

mr balmes thinks so too...this is what he emailed me earlier this morning

I take this charge seriously and even though I don’t repudiate the Tran report, I do think it might be best to redo it to improve CARB’s credibility.

 

Thanks

 

Thanks for your engagement.

 

JB

Isn't it funny how learnem pops up every time Lois is criticized?  You would think they were the same person.

Anyway, Lois is wrong by trying to imply over and over that a mistake by CARB researchers automatically calls into question the main premise for all the rules.  That is, of course, that air pollution is bad for health.  The insinuation is that regulating business for air pollution is not worth the money and that is not true.

just like anything else AQG...you cheat one time, you are labeled for life...pete rose got banned from baseball

there is no doubt that CARB needs to clean up its image....they must work hard to earn the people's trust...and not by monitarily raping them with all of these laws they come up with either.

maybe they can also tell the farmers to stop watering their dirt roads every day too, you know, since we are in a drought...

thats too common-sensical though.

January the letters go out and we get to smog our diesel trucks f250 & f350's

Funny comment, learnem!!!!

I'm not sure what the issue is regarding the California Air Resources Board. We have big pollution problems in California. No area is immune. CARB is a state agency over 40 years old empowered with trying to reduce levels of pollution. I understand every industry is tired and fed up with every regulator and rule written trying to come to grips with this particular problem, but the pollution continues to exact a terrible toll on everyone living in this state. If history is any indicator industry would do nothing about pollution. The air in the southern San Joaquin Valley is the worst in America.

Lois, Is the intent of this update and the continual thrust of this investigation to eliminate the agency?  Do you really think the trucking industry will be wiped out by new regulations and higher emission standards? The same thing was said about cars way back in the early 1970s, and the state managed to put in higher standards and keep the car business thriving. The same thing was said about oil companies  when new gasoline formulations were mandated to reduce pollution. The oil industry thrived after the new formulations and refinery processes were put into place. You could argue that the state did not do enough to protect small business interests when these rules were adopted, and that would be fair. But you should not continue to harp on the agency trying to help the state reduce pollution. 

I find the assault on a regulatory agency unwarranted at this juncture.   

Um...me thinks Lois' concern is that the guy who did the study LIED about his background. If he lied about his background what else will he lie about? That, and CARB won't release the study so other folks can check its validity. Don't think anyone questions that our smog is bad. But to just accept this liar's report as gospel, and make law which has financial impact on tax paying folks is crap. Keep up the good work Lois.

P.S. I'm not Lois.

When you have liars on your board, it creates credibility problems.  It's simple as that. Get rid of the liars and bring in credible people.

Once the truth is revealed, then they wont have jobs - they better get to cleaning out their own cupboards real quick...

AQG:

As I've repeatedly said, I read the underlying studies that suggest PM2.5 is killing us. PM2.5 is the main issue here. I have serious questions about those studies' accuracy. And I continue to be disturbed that other studies showing little to no effect on premature mortality due to PM2.5 get very short, if any, shrift.

The fact that the lead researcher who used those studies is a liar only adds to CARB's credibility issues, in my mind.

I've never said air pollution isn't bad for our health. But to what degree, in what concentration? And there are ways to reduce pollution that aren't going to kill the trucking industry, which facilitates EVERYONE's way of life.

P.S. This IS Lois

Sorry to say but anytime a company has to put a sticker on a plastic glovebox stating "for offroad use only" because of the enviromentalist groups, those groups loose ALL credibility. Check out an EMPI glovebox for a VW bug, mine had it lol