The El Segundo Times (formerly the L.A. Times before their readership cratered
and they sold their iconic downtown HQ and moved to a tiny building in El
Segundo to avoid bankruptcy) claims that only the cars of hwhyte drivers
pollute the air and the evil hwhytes in L.A. are fouling the air breathed by
our precious and noble BIPOCs.

(You can tell you're in for a wild ride right from the first sentence. Anyone
that uses the insipid term 'Angelenos' is almost certainly a 'progressive'
nutcase. No one normal around here refers to themselves or anyone else that
way.)

"It's not like commuters are coming in and shopping
in those communities, patronizing restaurants."

Of course we're not. Stopping in South Central for a burger would be like
stopping in Mogadishu for a snack. To paraphrase Effie Trinket in THE HUNGER
GAMES, the odds would never be in your favor.

Southern California has some of the nation's worst
air quality. Cars and trucks are one of the main
reasons why.

No, the geography of the Santa Monica Basin is the main reason why, you
ridiculous lunatic. Who told you that you're a reporter? You should slap
them.

Boeing's family moved to South Pasadena-- the
"ultimate suburban flight story", as he put it, and
a place with a "terrible racial history".

So even as this 'progressive' academic bemoans hwhyte flight and the history
of racism in Pasadena, that didn't stop his hwhyte ass from fleeing there when
L.A. became an apocalyptic cesspool due to the 'progressive' policies he
endorses.

Anyway, now it's apparently okay to drive your car if you're a BIPOC, but if
you're hwhyte, you're not allowed to drive or you're raaaaaciiiissst.

---------------------------------

https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2023-03-09/white-drivers-are-polluting-the-air-breathed-by-l-a-s-people-of-color-boiling-point

Like many Angelenos, I spend a lot of time behind the wheel of my car. I drive
from my Westside apartment to Dodger Stadium near downtown and farther east to
hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. I take the 405 Freeway north to the San
Fernando Valley to see friends, or occasionally south to the L.A. Times
office-- or to the airport, where I grow my carbon footprint even further.

So I couldn't help but consider my own complicity while reading a new study
from USC researchers, finding that Angelenos who drive more tend to be exposed
to less air pollution-- and Angelenos who drive less tend to be exposed to
more pollution.

It may sound like a paradox, but it's not. It's a function of the racism that
shaped this city and its suburbs, and continues to influence our daily lives--
and a stark reminder of the need for climate solutions that benefit everyone.

My colleague Terry Castleman wrote about the study, which was published in the
peer-reviewed journal Urban Studies. The core finding is that for every 1%
increase in miles driven to and from work by people who live in a particular
part of L.A. County, there's an estimated 0.62% decrease in the lung-damaging
"fine particulate matter" to which those Angelenos are exposed.

How is that possible? I asked the study's lead author, Geoff Boeing, a
professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.

He told me it largely comes down to the shameful history of Los Angeles
County's low-income communities of color being torn apart to make way for
freeways-- a history that has been extensively documented by The Times. Today,
many residents of the county's whiter, more affluent neighborhoods-- who were
often able to keep highways out of their own backyards-- commute to work
through lower-income black and latino neighborhoods bisected by the 10, 110,
and 105 freeways and more.

"It's not like commuters are coming in and shopping in those communities,
patronizing restaurants," Boeing said. "They're just driving through to get
from one side of the city to the other."

Southern California has some of the nation's worst air quality. Cars and
trucks are one of the main reasons why-- and the closer you are to the source,
the more danger you face. Whenever I move, I insist on finding an apartment at
least 1,000 feet away from the nearest freeway, after reading an L.A. Times
investigation revealing that people who live near freeways suffer higher rates
of asthma, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, pre-term births and
potentially other illnesses, such as dementia.

Boeing has gone a step further, taking an air-quality monitor with him when he
and his wife were looking for a new home a few years ago. He got one of his
highest readings for particulate matter near the 101 Freeway in Echo Park.

"I have a small child. I try as hard as I can to avoid air pollution," he
said.

Boeing's family moved to South Pasadena-- the "ultimate suburban flight
story", as he put it, and a place with a "terrible racial history". Residents
of the relatively affluent, predominantly white city were able to block
construction of the 710 Freeway through their neighborhoods. As a result, he
told me, truck traffic from the ports of L.A. and Long Beach ends up routing
through lower-income neighborhoods in Alhambra, a city whose population is
overwhelmingly Asian and Latino.

Boeing is acutely aware that he and his wife and son are the beneficiaries. "I
absolutely love that there are no freeways anywhere near us," he said.

As a white guy who's lived on L.A.'s West Side for most of my life, I've
benefited from the region's sordid history as well. Much as I try to do my
part-- taking the train a couple times a month, walking to local coffee shops
and restaurants instead of driving across the city-- there's no question I
contribute to the inequitable air pollution that Boeing's study describes.

Overall, though, the map shows how residents of whiter, wealthier communities
disproportionately drive to work through lower-income latino and black
neighborhoods, spewing pollution. Residents of those neighborhoods can't do
much about it.

"If you want to be exposed to less pollution, you can't be the change you want
to see in the world," Boeing said. "It's up to everybody else who is taking
advantage of public infrastructure and releasing tailpipe emissions."

Boeing was careful to note that the study doesn't conclusively prove that
patterns in how Angelenos get to work are solely responsible for different
levels of air pollution in different communities. Majority-white West Side
neighborhoods, for instance, could also be benefiting from ocean breezes that
push pollution into predominantly black and latino areas, he said.

But the researchers' close examination of driving patterns, commute distances
and pollution-- which involved a combination of data analysis and modeling--
painted a clear picture of environmental injustice, Boeing said. In addition
to the link between air quality and miles driven, his team found that
non-white communities face higher pollution levels across the board.

On 2023-03-10 3:59 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> The El Segundo Times (formerly the L.A. Times before their readership cratered
> and they sold their iconic downtown HQ and moved to a tiny building in El
> Segundo to avoid bankruptcy) claims that only the cars of hwhyte drivers
> pollute the air and the evil hwhytes in L.A. are fouling the air breathed by
> our precious and noble BIPOCs.
>
> (You can tell you're in for a wild ride right from the first sentence. Anyone
> that uses the insipid term 'Angelenos' is almost certainly a 'progressive'
> nutcase. No one normal around here refers to themselves or anyone else that
> way.)
>
> "It's not like commuters are coming in and shopping
> in those communities, patronizing restaurants."
>
> Of course we're not. Stopping in South Central for a burger would be like
> stopping in Mogadishu for a snack. To paraphrase Effie Trinket in THE HUNGER
> GAMES, the odds would never be in your favor.
>
> Southern California has some of the nation's worst
> air quality. Cars and trucks are one of the main
> reasons why.
>
> No, the geography of the Santa Monica Basin is the main reason why, you
> ridiculous lunatic. Who told you that you're a reporter? You should slap
> them.
>
> Boeing's family moved to South Pasadena-- the
> "ultimate suburban flight story", as he put it, and
> a place with a "terrible racial history".
>
> So even as this 'progressive' academic bemoans hwhyte flight and the history
> of racism in Pasadena, that didn't stop his hwhyte ass from fleeing there when
> L.A. became an apocalyptic cesspool due to the 'progressive' policies he
> endorses.
>
> Anyway, now it's apparently okay to drive your car if you're a BIPOC, but if
> you're hwhyte, you're not allowed to drive or you're raaaaaciiiissst.
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2023-03-09/white-drivers-are-polluting-the-air-breathed-by-l-a-s-people-of-color-boiling-point
>
> Like many Angelenos, I spend a lot of time behind the wheel of my car. I drive
> from my Westside apartment to Dodger Stadium near downtown and farther east to
> hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. I take the 405 Freeway north to the San
> Fernando Valley to see friends, or occasionally south to the L.A. Times
> office-- or to the airport, where I grow my carbon footprint even further.
>
> So I couldn't help but consider my own complicity while reading a new study
> from USC researchers, finding that Angelenos who drive more tend to be exposed
> to less air pollution-- and Angelenos who drive less tend to be exposed to
> more pollution.
>
> It may sound like a paradox, but it's not. It's a function of the racism that
> shaped this city and its suburbs, and continues to influence our daily lives--
> and a stark reminder of the need for climate solutions that benefit everyone.
>
> My colleague Terry Castleman wrote about the study, which was published in the
> peer-reviewed journal Urban Studies. The core finding is that for every 1%
> increase in miles driven to and from work by people who live in a particular
> part of L.A. County, there's an estimated 0.62% decrease in the lung-damaging
> "fine particulate matter" to which those Angelenos are exposed.
>
> How is that possible? I asked the study's lead author, Geoff Boeing, a
> professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
>
> He told me it largely comes down to the shameful history of Los Angeles
> County's low-income communities of color being torn apart to make way for
> freeways-- a history that has been extensively documented by The Times. Today,
> many residents of the county's whiter, more affluent neighborhoods-- who were
> often able to keep highways out of their own backyards-- commute to work
> through lower-income black and latino neighborhoods bisected by the 10, 110,
> and 105 freeways and more.
>
> "It's not like commuters are coming in and shopping in those communities,
> patronizing restaurants," Boeing said. "They're just driving through to get
> from one side of the city to the other."
>
> Southern California has some of the nation's worst air quality. Cars and
> trucks are one of the main reasons why-- and the closer you are to the source,
> the more danger you face. Whenever I move, I insist on finding an apartment at
> least 1,000 feet away from the nearest freeway, after reading an L.A. Times
> investigation revealing that people who live near freeways suffer higher rates
> of asthma, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, pre-term births and
> potentially other illnesses, such as dementia.
>
> Boeing has gone a step further, taking an air-quality monitor with him when he
> and his wife were looking for a new home a few years ago. He got one of his
> highest readings for particulate matter near the 101 Freeway in Echo Park.
>
> "I have a small child. I try as hard as I can to avoid air pollution," he
> said.
>
> Boeing's family moved to South Pasadena-- the "ultimate suburban flight
> story", as he put it, and a place with a "terrible racial history". Residents
> of the relatively affluent, predominantly white city were able to block
> construction of the 710 Freeway through their neighborhoods. As a result, he
> told me, truck traffic from the ports of L.A. and Long Beach ends up routing
> through lower-income neighborhoods in Alhambra, a city whose population is
> overwhelmingly Asian and Latino.
>
> Boeing is acutely aware that he and his wife and son are the beneficiaries. "I
> absolutely love that there are no freeways anywhere near us," he said.
>
> As a white guy who's lived on L.A.'s West Side for most of my life, I've
> benefited from the region's sordid history as well. Much as I try to do my
> part-- taking the train a couple times a month, walking to local coffee shops
> and restaurants instead of driving across the city-- there's no question I
> contribute to the inequitable air pollution that Boeing's study describes.
>
> Overall, though, the map shows how residents of whiter, wealthier communities
> disproportionately drive to work through lower-income latino and black
> neighborhoods, spewing pollution. Residents of those neighborhoods can't do
> much about it.
>
> "If you want to be exposed to less pollution, you can't be the change you want
> to see in the world," Boeing said. "It's up to everybody else who is taking
> advantage of public infrastructure and releasing tailpipe emissions."
>
> Boeing was careful to note that the study doesn't conclusively prove that
> patterns in how Angelenos get to work are solely responsible for different
> levels of air pollution in different communities. Majority-white West Side
> neighborhoods, for instance, could also be benefiting from ocean breezes that
> push pollution into predominantly black and latino areas, he said.
>
Oh dear, the wind itself is racist!!

> But the researchers' close examination of driving patterns, commute distances
> and pollution-- which involved a combination of data analysis and modeling--
> painted a clear picture of environmental injustice, Boeing said. In addition
> to the link between air quality and miles driven, his team found that
> non-white communities face

MINUTELY

> higher pollution levels across the board.
>
>

--
Rhino