Smog, Lies and Pineapples: How LA Cleaned up Its Air and What’s Left to Do

Smog, Lies and Pineapples: How LA Cleaned up Its Air and What’s Left to Do

In “Smog and Sunshine,” UCLA’s Ann Carlson tells of the scientists, lawyers, government officials and community members behind the decades-long effort to clear Southern California skies.By Steven RodasAs a child growing up in Southern California, Ann Carlson remembers mountains obscured by haze and yellowish brown air that stung her eyes and made her lungs ache.

From Choking Smog to Clearer Skies: How Los Angeles Won Its Battle Against Air Pollution

For generations of Southern California residents, breathing meant accepting a daily dose of stinging, yellowish-brown air that obscured mountain views and left lungs aching. What many simply accepted as “the environment” was actually one of the nation’s most severe air pollution crises, transforming the City of Angels into a cautionary tale of unchecked industrial growth and automotive emissions. The transformation of Los Angeles air quality rep…