Even on a good day, the skies above Kern County are cloudy with ozone pollution. Which is the reason we face a multi million dollar fine that may be coming partly out of your pocket.
"They need to work harder to make sure they get the emissions down, but again to pass the buck to the average citizen is not the way to go," said Carter Pope, driver. The air district is on track to fail a specific pollution test and now faces splitting the $29 million penalty. Businesses that pollute could be asked to pay tens of thousands of dollars with the money going to programs that clean up the air. "It has to be evenly distributed, and we would argue that most of the trucks and cars that use our I-5 and 99 corridor are not from the valley," said Richard Chapman, Kern Economic Development Corporation.
The air district is looking at a plan to pass up to 80 percent of the penalty onto drivers. Which means the next time you go to register your car, you could be paying an extra $10. "$10 on our registration is not a big deal. I live in Frazier park, and trust me, when I come over the hill, it's laying across the valley," said Mindy Nickell, Frazier Park resident.
The air district says it's fair because cars contribute to 80% of our ozone problem. "They say it's getting better, you can still see the mountains. But we're living in a valley. We're getting the pollution from up north and here too, said Guy Laughlin, driver.
We have been getting better, just not fast enough. The Fresno Bee reports there are fewer than five ozone violations each year in the San Joaquin Valley, compared to an average of 50 in the early 1990s. The penalty will be enforced in 2012, unless we can cut ozone violations to about one per year.
The irony, we have improved tenfold. The air district will hold a series of public meetings. A decision could come as early as next year.
