Proposal for the Reduction of Air Pollution in Los Angeles

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Introduction

The two most prevalent forms of air pollution are ozone pollution and particle pollution. Ozone pollution involves the availability of smog in the atmosphere while particle pollution is the availability of solid and liquid wastes in the atmosphere. Los Angeles city has suffered the worst ozone pollution as well as the worst levels of particle pollution in the United States. Despite the efforts by the city to combat these types of air pollution, the levels have continued to rise by the day. The availability of these pollutants has continued to cause health problems to the people of Los Angeles and the neighboring areas. In light of these, I have written a proposal that addresses the ways of minimizing pollution in my community, which is in Los Angeles. This proposal is in light to the RFP that my community has come up with to receive bids to address this sustainability problem.

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Ways the City has addressed Air Pollution

The geography of Los Angeles plays a major role in the pollution experienced in the area. This is because of the surrounding mountains as well as the temperature inversions that create pollution traps under the inversion layer. For example, in the 1950s to 1960s, industrialization and the rise in vehicle usage meant that air pollution was becoming prevalent. Even though the leaders of the city have come up with ways to clean the air, the air still ranks amongst the first in terms of air pollution. Some of the measures taken to control air pollution at the time were the enactment of emission standards of cars, the implementation of antismog measures and the Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAAP, 2006). The Clean Air Act meant that every business was to have a certificate in terms of the regulation of smog. Also, it was to regulate emissions from both stationary and mobile sources.

How to address Pollution in Los Angeles

The use of Catalytic Converters in Vehicles

Technology plays an important role in the prevention of any type of pollution, and air pollution is one of them. As road vehicles play a major role in the pollution experienced in Los Angeles, the installation of catalytic converters will go a long way in an address this problem of air pollution. The catalytic converters are essential in eliminating air pollution in Los Angeles because as most people continue to acquire vehicles each day. The city must make sure that each vehicle is fitted with catalytic converter before its use on the roads. In addition, the vehicles must have a certificate from a certified body that acknowledges that a vehicle is fitted with a catalytic converter. The owners of the vehicles must ensure that their certificate is renewed each year after the catalytic converters have been checked that they are working properly (Barboza, 2017). Catalytic converters help in lowering the levels of volatile organic compounds that are released from vehicle tailpipes and contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone.

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Retiring of old Fleet of Cars

Old vehicles have a problem of burning a lot of fuel and releasing poisonous organic compounds to the atmosphere. Furthermore, old vehicles have lower speeds because of the combustion problems their engines experience. To minimize this pollution, retiring old vehicles will be a nice move (The Log Staff, 2016). Furthermore, heavy-duty diesel causes a lot of emissions and therefore the city should target this type of diesel to eliminate on-road emissions.

Reduction of Harmful Chemicals

Coming up with policies that mandate the reduction of harmful chemicals such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions will enhance the reduction of air pollution, these harmful gases are mostly emitted from refineries. Coming up with regulations that require each refinery to reduce the emission of these chemicals will be essential in making the Los Angeles air clean. In addition, the city should support the manufacture of electric vehicles, which do not emit harmful gases. Manufacturers should also be mandated to cut smog-inducing ingredients ion charcoals briquettes and starter fluids (Marziali, 2015). Moreover, the city should promote the use of public transit for commuting for its residents as this reduces pollution in that there will be fewer vehicles on the roads. This will, in turn, lead to a reduction in traffic congestion.

The city council should be on the forefront in using renewable sources of energy for its operations. The use of wind and solar energy to generate electricity will enable residents to get electricity at cheaper rates and make sure that the city is clean. Through the city council leading by example, the other residents of the region will follow suit by utilizing the renewable energy sources to get energy in their homes. This will have a huge effect in making the air of the city clean thus reducing health-related problems emanating from air pollution.

Investing in Technology

Furthermore, the city of Los Angeles should invest in technology to acquire data that will accurately identify the sources of air pollution. Technology will also enable the city to respond appropriately and in a timely manner to the reduction of air pollution. The data collected will inform the city of an area that experiences air quality problems and the city council should be able to come up with strategies to reduce the pollution in that area. Furthermore, the investment in technology will enable the city meet multiple objectives in the reduction of air quality, climate change, toxic air exposure, and transportation (Gardner, 2014). This will improve the health of the people living in Los Angeles.

Investing in incentive funding and enforcing both regulatory and non-regulatory measures to deal with emissions will enhance air pollution. By providing innovative and win-win approaches to the manufacturers and vehicle owners, they will make a concerted effort to help in minimizing air pollution. In addition, by the city providing incentive funding to the manufacturers, they will come up with an initiative to reduce air pollution (CAAP, 2006). Such funding can be helpful in manufacturers that want to utilize renewable sources of energy even though they do not have the funds to utilize the energy sources.

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Overall, the city of Los Angeles can deal with the sustainability problem of air pollution by making use of some of the initiatives highlighted above. Even though the city council, as well as different regulatory bodies, have come up with regulations to minimize air pollution since the 1960s, more effort need to be made to continue with the initiative. Since vehicles are the ones most responsible for air pollution, then much effort should be put in reducing the on-road emissions emanating from vehicles.

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  1. Barboza, T. (2017). Retrieved 31 December 2017, from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-air-pollution-plan-20170203-story.html
  2. CAAP. (2006). The Port of Los Angeles | Environment. Portoflosangeles.org. Retrieved 31 December 2017, from https://www.portoflosangeles.org/environment/caap.asp
  3. Gardner, S. (2014). LA Smog: the battle against air pollution. Marketplace.org. Retrieved 31 December 2017, from https://www.marketplace.org/2014/07/14/sustainability/we-used-be-china/la-smog-battle-against-air-pollution
  4. Marziali, C. (2015). LA environmental success story: cleaner air, healthier kids. News.usc.edu. Retrieved 31 December 2017, from https://news.usc.edu/76761/las-environmental-success-story-cleaner-air-healthier-kids/
  5. The Log Staff. (2016). Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together reduce air pollution from ships – The Log. Thelog.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017, from http://www.thelog.com/news-departments/ports-of-los-angeles-and-long-beach-together-reduce-air-pollution-from-ships/
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