How Los Angeles Regulates Air Pollution

Los Angeles is not really a city of skyscrapers. All around those skyscrapers is a flat expanse of one- and two-story buildings. This low-density urban development means you have to drive to get around in LA. Los Angeles’ sprawl is considered a classic case of failed urban planning.Los Angeles’ sprawl is considered a classic case of failed urban planning. Its public transportation has not been developed or utilized to its fullest potential. This has caused an inevitable increase in car ownershipIn a city of 1.7 million people, there are about 1.3 million cars. That's almost one car per person. In the whole of California. 850 million trips are made every day. If you add up all the fuel. It's enough to travel to the moon and back 1,600 times.

Over there is a beer brewery,and over there are huge warehouses. This truck just came from the port of Long Beach. Take a look at this big Optimus Prime-looking guy. 18 wheelsOver 20 meters long. Its quality is like a tank or armored vehicle. CARB estimates that. 71% of the carcinogens in Southern California’s atmosphere come from diesel vehicles. So all diesel vehicles are required to install a diesel particulate filter (DPF). This is a special type of filter. It's like putting a dust mask on your truck.It can filter out 99% of particles.

This driver is from Mexico. He drives an old 2005 model truck. The law says he must install a DPF. But he hasn't installed one. Although his truck's emission level is within compliance. He will be still be fined $1,000 US dollars. Why didn't you install the DPF? Not much money. He was waiting till the last minute. He makes around $4,000 a month. Now he has to pay a $1,000 ticket. That's a pretty high price. Sir, how many kids do you have?. Six. What if he still doesn’t install the DPF? We'll keep ticketing him. If you still don’t comply, We'll report you to the DMV And not allow you to renew your license plates. If you can't renew your plates, You can't drive, so you can't make money.

To manage its pollution, California had to enact the strictest standards for new motor vehicles. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to inspect any new vehicle. It has the right to inspect any car in use with up to 12,000 miles on it. It has the right to inspect any car in use with up to 12,000 miles on it. If it finds a factory has been violating the regulations. It will fine the car manufacturer $25,000 for each day since the vehicle left the factory. The EPA has the authority to require car manufacturers to recall all affected vehicles.

Paul Jacobs, California Air Resource Board, Branch Chief 45% of the citizens want to comply and be good corporate citizens. Another 45% say, “Well, I don’t really want to, but I’m going to because I might get caught.” And 10% say, “Catch me.” “I'm gonna go 100 miles per hour in the left lane of the freeway, come and catch me. ”This court settlement particularly interests me. I only realized afterwards that The vehicle that was fined was imported from China. It was because of environmental labeling fraud. But this time, once they were caught, They were fined about 400 million RMB [64 million USD]. Two of the people in charge went to jail. Human nature is the same all around the world. In the US, you can also find people who want to avoid punishment or break the law. But you can control 90% of them if you strictly enforce the law. It will be like the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said, 90% of vehicles will continue to commit environmental fraud.

Chai Jing, Under the Dome – Investigating China’s Smog (Mar 1, 2015)

• air pollution
• environmentalism
• regulation