Much-improved air may jolt alarmists

This Earth Day, the people of Los Angeles should take a deep breath and step into the sunshine. In a stunning West Coast turnaround, the City of Smog actually won a kind of atmospheric Oscar by making the air quality "Most Improved List" in a recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

This may come as a surprise to eco-activists who have long viewed L.A. through a glass darkly as the slovenly poster child for the nation's air-pollution problems. It could also cause a temporary disorientation for L.A. residents, who have grown used to thinking of smog as an essential part of what makes L.A. so unique -- something like the steady-state traffic gridlock in mid-Manhattan.

But this may be a trend. Together, the top 10 cities reduced air pollution by 54 percent between 1992 and 2003, according to scores found on the EPA's Air Quality Index.

Are we approaching clean air Utopia?

The index rates air quality of cities on a scale from 1 to 500. The threshold for unhealthy air quality for sensitive individuals, such as those who have asthma, is 100. And 500 is the worst score a city could receive. The index grades the level of pollution coming from ground-level ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

Starting from the bottom, the biggest reductions were achieved in cities that have been the greatest polluters in the past. The reprobates. The Los Angeles area -- including Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties -- exceeded the EPA's ozone pollution standard 64 days in 2003 and dropped to only 27 days last year. By contrast, in the 1970s, the L.A. basin exceeded the standard around 200 days a year.

As the weatherman might say, limited sunshine and take your inhaler.

But that's all changed now. What is the cause of this "the-data-don't lie" success? Well, auto emissions, the bete noire of air pollution, are way down. By the EPA's projections, emissions from cars will continue to decline -- by more than 80 percent over the next 25 years.

In places like San Diego and Escondido, the levels of emissions from cars, trucks, power plants and industrial businesses have dropped at least 10 percent in the last five years. In fact, San Diego County was one of 21 taken off the national list of biggest air polluters this month.

Environmental officials say that new stringent emission standards for the latest cars and buses are making a big difference. And, despite all the warnings about global warming, California's air actually benefited from cooler weather last year.

In fact, the entire country experienced the coolest July last year since 1992. It seems that global warming alarmists can't get the Earth to kick in with persuasive special effects.

There's another reason why residents of California should congratulate themselves. Home-state trash entrepreneurs are inventing new ways to recycle garbage. Known as the "dirty MRF" (materials recovery facility), these cheap, low-tech sorting factories separate recyclables from regular trash, eliminating extra trips for garbage trucks and tediously virtuous in-home presorts.

And the state government is getting personal about the environment in other ways. Legislators passed a new law last fall that might influence what kind of car you drive. The law mandates that gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles are to make up 5 percent of in-state sales by 2009. Another 30 percent of all new vehicles would also need to be equipped with cleaner engines. Perhaps, finally, it's all coming together.

California's progress is a reflection of a record-breaking year in air quality across the nation. In 2004, ozone pollution was at the lowest level in U.S. history. The entire nation cleared minimum clean-air standards for four of six pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Americans sense the change. According to a recent Harris poll, 71 percent are "happy" with the quality of the environment where they live -- an increase of 10 percent since 1997. Not ecstatic, but it's a start.

Of course, some people need dirty air to complete their hazy vision of the world. Heck, Los Angeles won't be the same. Celebrities and commoners have lived together within that wretched smog for so long. But perhaps they can learn to live with change, and a little more sunshine.