Smog Alert

[sabotabby]

Those of you who live in Toronto are quite familiar with smog alerts (I'm not sure if they have them in other cities). That's when, as VICE recently put it, the good citizens of Toronto are warned to "take it easy on the whole inhale/exhale thing."

They are increasingly common. We are expected to treat is as routine. It's just another unfortunate consequence of modernity that one is expected to absorb, to treat as normal. You can't breathe? Oh well. Maybe you'll be allowed to breathe tomorrow. It's not like you have a right to air or anything. Besides, we're all going to die of cancer, and that's perfectly routine as well.


The first smog alert day in Toronto this year was two days ago.

Interestingly, we—pedestrians, that is, and cyclists too—are warned to stay inside on smog alert days. Drivers, the cause of much of this smog, are never warned to stop driving. I felt that this discrepancy deserved to be commented upon.

Comments

[thebigbadbutch.livejournal.com]

We used to have these in PHX all the time when I was a kid. Eventually, the alerts were no longer necessary since these days all days are smoggy. If not for all those pedestrians breathing in the air on the clear days we wouldn't have this problem :/

[sabotabby]

I know! With all their sucking up the oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide...wankers.

[stoneself.livejournal.com]

in the sf bay area we have "spare the air" days when the air is bad. commuters are asked to get out of their cars and take public transportation. people are asked not to used gas powered yard equipment and not to have bbqs. and to not fuel up their car during the day.

and for the first few "spare the air" days of the year, public transportation is free.

[sabotabby]

Hippies!

Seriously, though, that's what we need here.

[stoneself.livejournal.com]

so suggest it to some air quality type person. :)

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

That's a very nifty idea.

I've never lived in an area with smog alerts, so I'm... floored, really, at even the discussion.

[pluvka.livejournal.com]

i miss toronto a lot, but i really don't miss the smog on hot days like this.

and people who drive in toronto are assholes.

[human-loser.livejournal.com]

just the people who drive?

surely you've ridden the streetcars...

[pluvka.livejournal.com]

well, no, but i meant that anyone who uses a car in a city like that, when so much public transportation is available, is an asshole.

i moved to rhode island last year and i miss public transportation! people take it for granted.

[5-miles.livejournal.com]

did you see this?

[pluvka.livejournal.com]

oh, geez.
i love how it says it's surprising that the attacker turned out to be a cop.

[5-miles.livejournal.com]

just another example of the media's short term memory.

[sabotabby]

Because as we all know, cops are never psychotically violent.

[5-miles.livejournal.com]

No, never.
They only ever protect and serve the people.

[lemur-man.livejournal.com]

He's just making sure everyone's aware of the new rule that you in fact must go through a yellow light - no stopping, ever. And the corresponding penalty.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

Lots of cities have equivalents of smog alert days, yeah. And in cities like LA, they don't have alerts so much as mere notices of how bad the smog is going to get that day. (Here in Santa Cruz, the air is nigh perfect, hehe.)

It'll get worse before it gets better. We're still crazy addicted to fossil fuels. I still think the solution is a hydrogen based economy powered by solar satellites. ;)

[sabotabby]

Don't forget the windmills. Windmills are awesome. Though I support the use of hamster-based electricity.

Oh How I Love the Summer!

[zingerella.livejournal.com]

Smog alerts, UV alerts, crazed morons with leaf-blowers, lawn-mowers, weed-whackers, and bush-thwakers causing noise pollution, heat, humidity, hayfever, and haze.

Sigh. How many more months until we're allowed to breathe again?

Re: Oh How I Love the Summer!

[sabotabby]

And yet I still prefer it to winter. Go figure.

Re: Oh How I Love the Summer!

[zingerella.livejournal.com]

I don't.

I can breathe in winter, and have fewer headaches. Okay, i can't cycle as much, but I really like not having as many headaches.

[peterbilt-47.livejournal.com]

I find the massive spike in 2005 interesting. Was something unusual going on then? Or was there simply a principled civil servant in the Public Health Department who wasn't sweeping shit under the rug, until someone noticed and shut them up?

[sabotabby]

Interesting—I wondered that too. It was cooler than normal last summer, so that might have had something to do with it, but I don't know if that's enough to account for the drop.

[esizzle.livejournal.com]

Well, that's what Giese 581 c is for. It's a planet that is only 20.5 light years away and scientists are calling it "super-earth". Global warming actually makes it more habitable!

[sabotabby]

And if we start travelling now, we can make it there in a few million years! Yay skience!

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Here in the b'more metro area they have alert days, which advise cars to only fuel after dark. Those are on particularly hot summer days. It isn't smoggy, though.

[sabotabby]

Can you breathe?

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

cc: lettertoed@thestar.ca kplzthx

[sabotabby]

Good idea.

[wlach.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine anything more socially irresponsible and harmful in this day and age than driving an automobile. Unfortunately, for some reason people still think that an automobile is somehow a necessity in this country rather than the outcome of extremely poor individual and collective choices. The left really needs to bring this discussion into public focus.

[sabotabby]

The left really needs to bring this discussion into public focus.

I was about to comment on your last post with either a) haha, good luck with Harper running the show, and b) there's a strange tension on the left with regards to energy issues.

On the latter point, there's the populist appeal of "the evil oil companies are gouging us," there's the fact that some of the strongest left activism has traditionally come from the CAW, and there's the fact that, in North America, people, even progressive people, think that they have the right to a car. Or two.

And then there's a problem with the environmentalist movement itself, which has traditionally spearheaded conservation efforts. Much of environmental activism uses a right-wing frame, even when right-wing environmentalists are somewhat of a minority. It's all about individual consumer choices when what's needed is collective action.

But in some ways, I despair that a government would take the unpopular move of restricting cars. They'd much rather choke urban dwellers than alienate the suburbanites.

[wlach.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've noticed that (re: left-wing activism in Ontario being driven by the automotive unions). It's quite the problematic relationship, although I think in the long term these unions will be going down along with the big American automakers. One wonders what kind of movement will take their place.

With reference to my last post, I really don't think there's any excuse for the rampant dishonesty and bad faith being put forward on this issue by the Center for Policy Alternatives and the NDP, both of whom surely do know better. It's not the fact that people have different values and interests that offends me, rather it's their complete blindness to the reality which is staring right at them in the face.

Politics really annoy me.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Do you have any suggestions on how to do so? I'm curious - I'm aware of how much the crappy bus system is often cited as a reason behind my friends driving everywhere, but I don't know how to do anything about it. Have you any thoughts you're willing to share?

(Man, Edmonton's bus system appears so much worse now that I've lived in cities that are much better than that... but now I live in a city where the majority of buses stop running at 6.)

[wlach.livejournal.com]

I don't really many unique suggestions other than the obvious:

1. Be an example. Use less energy-intensive modes of transit (bicycle, bus, train) even if they're less convenient than the alternatives. Let people know why you do this.
2. Talk about the issue to anyone willing to listen. Stick to the facts: the fact that cheap energy is becoming increasingly scarce isn't purely a political issue or telling people returning to the stone age.
3. The usual advocacy methods: Writing your MP, newspapers. Join movements like Critical Mass (there is surely one for Edmonton).

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

More than likely, now that I think of it - but I don't live in Edmonton anymore. :) Which doesn't negate the idea that there's one in Perth.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm only beginning to sort out this stuff as more than "I will sit with my friends and complain about it", so it's a learning curve for me to even think up ideas.