Aaron Rendon - The Establishment of the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District
For my topic I will be writing about the establishment of the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District (LAACPD) in the year 1947. It is an important history to be told because it paved the way for air pollution reform such as the Air Pollution Control Act, which was the first major legislation regarding air pollution to be passed by a state. On top of that, like much history, we can learn from it. I say this because much like today, the LAAPCD had to fight back against rich and powerful oil corporations who opposed the reform. On top of that, I will be going into the reasons for which the LAACPD was established, of which there are several. One big reason for it is something that has had an impact on much of our history; geography. Los Angeles is infamous for some of the worst smog levels in all America. The reason for that is because of its location on a flatter surface which is surrounded completely by the San Gabriel Mountains and the ocean. This makes it much more difficult for the air pollution to escape. Not to mention, more and more people were coming to Los Angeles to settle down. As the population grew, so did the pollution in the air. This means that Los Angeles, and its residents had to deal with much worse smog than most people have ever seen today. This had many effects on the area leading up to LAACPD’s establishment. Including smog so intense and atrocious that they were known as “smog attacks” as well as a ridiculously high increase in days per year in which one could not even see a mile in front of them. As for sources, I am looking deeply at potential newspaper articles to use for primary sources. One was written by Robert Tucker, an expert on pollution, in the Los Angeles Times in 1946. In it, he describes the cause for such horrible smog, showing the direction they were heading in at the time. This report was one of many catalysts resulting in the formation of the LAAPCD. Another is in an article by the San Pedro News from 1946, in which a high amount of calls and complaints to the LA Health Department’s air pollution control office are discussed. My reason for wanting to include this article is that I feel as though it does well to represent the smaller picture of the average citizen. So much of history is focused on big people politics or war, but the average person was greatly affected by history as well. Not only that, but in moments like these, you can argue that they have a great impact on history as well. One person complaining about smog is not much of a big deal. But as soon as there is enough for you to say that “the public” is complaining, then there is a greater effect. For secondary sources, I am looking at the Vogel book as it is where I first learned about the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District. Vogel does a good job of giving a solid background on the establishment of the organization. Another is a journal article I found on JSTOR. Written by George Gonzalez, a professor at the University of Miami, “Urban Growth and the Politics of Air Pollution” goes into Los Angeles’ pollution during that time period as a whole, but what I hope to use from it is part of his discussion of the area’s geography having an affect on the smog. Another I am looking at using is a book titled “Managing the Environment, Managing Ourselves: A History of American Environmental Policy” written by Richard Andrews. In the book, he discusses how California was a pioneer in terms of enacting policy to combat air pollution.In the coming weeks I’m hoping to potentially find one more primary source. Ideally this one won’t be from a newspaper. I also need to find more secondary sources to fill some gaps, such as one that goes into the oil industry’s temporary fight back against LAAPCD.
Topographic map of the Los Angeles area, showing the mountains surrounding LA.
- LA smog in the year 1943.
We have almost the same topic! The historical context is there with wanting to go back to the beginning of the air pollution control in 1947. I like how you are trying to focus on the "smaller, average" citizen instead of the big companies, and like you said, the politics. I think this will be an interesting take on the topic. I think its cool how you include how geography effects how smog develops and lingers. I did not even think about how population affected the spread of smog in LA. It makes so much sense because of how dense the city and metro areas are compared to the outskirts, like where I live. I think the population example ties in really good because of the fact that you are taking into account how the smog is affecting this same population. It would be interesting if you can add in or find what the public is doing to try and reduce smog in LA outside of what the LAAPCD is doing. I think it would be cool to add some of the research that came out of the creation of the LAAPCD. I thing you've covered everything and I am excited to see the finished product and compare the ideas we both put in!
ReplyDeleteOne of the Major arguments that I could gather from this research project is why the LAACPD was founded and why it was necessary. The argument hear is clear in that you want to discuss the problem of smog in Los Angeles and how the state addressed the growing issue of Air Pollution.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your sources are very Topical and fit well with what you want to do. I think using your San Pedro news article gives a lot of emotion and life to this article. The Air's impact on people really will help your argument. Your other sources seem to supply you with a lot of the context behind this issue. California's air pollution policy in particular will serve your argument very well.
The Environmental aspect is apparent in your research, that you want to look at the air pollution of Los Angeles near the time that the LAACPD was created. It is also clear that the environmental relationships you might want to talk about are between normal people and the impact the air has on them as well as how the state impacts the air.
In Terms of further research you might want to look at some of the first things the LAACPD did to better the air pollution as these policies might help show why they were created in the first place.
This seems like it will be a very interesting project. What I am understanding from your blog post is that your argument focuses on the creation of the Los Angeles Air Pollution Control District with how it was pushed by the people in public outcries about smog. I think this is very clearly a historical topic, focusing on the reactions of the people in response to this ever growing threat of smog and pollution. Los Angeles is also the perfect case study for this due to the significance of smog to the city itself and how it was one of the first major cities to take action against pollution in such a way. I think it is extremely important for you to dive into pollution levels and how they affect human health. Some extreme events you could look into could be the 1948 Donora Fog and the Great London Smog of 1952
ReplyDeletehttps://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2018/04000/The_Great_London_Smog_of_1952.34.aspx?casa_token=Rgjq3UEzfcwAAAAA:2pnxeLKPIugerBSW9xadgrSmJBLRwaBbVVA1A7d0tfOh4UQaIch7DGnbAH3xRaIn-00mFwkMttCndu7XOOZ4VBk
Just to help better understand the short term and long term health effects on humans in general as these were extreme cases with more obvious effects. I was able to find this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41170674?casa_token=k1gzC-4aj5cAAAAA%3AE8ANohfp2S_RvQPph34evZEwRzu7b6B3cDHSO2nlNUdpiLZ8oxIW1X-ZOQbSUISTRf_iMJ0PpdxJ6aIkCpW7Nno2fp64QaBmcUf040kPZosqqM2hE5M&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Which discusses smog in Los Angeles in its earliest of days alongside the confusion and immediate health effects. Other than that I like the sources you have listed and think they contribute to your prompt. The issue is also very clearly an environmental one as pollution affects both the environment and us as humans. The creation of the LAAPCD and its immediate effects are something that I would like to see you dive more into, because I would personally be curious to see how this affected the smog issue both in the short and long term. Overall, very good job! I thought the second image you used of what the smog looked like then was particularly powerful and got the point across in a big way.