So I thought to look around the state, nation, and such to see what amusing tidbits might be available to share with the readers of this place.

My first stop was Fresno, and I was just looking around when I came across this article, which seemed to me to be a bit more than a tidbit. 

"State air board chief is let go"

Decision comes shortly after governor criticizes support of cleanup delay for Valley By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/72738.html

Note the lede of the Story is this:

"Gov. Schwarzenegger on Thursday fired the chairman of the California Air Resources Board, days after the governor criticized the board for agreeing to delay a clean-air deadline for the San Joaquin Valley."

The anecdotal reason we are given is this:

"'When one out of six residents in the San Joaquin Valley has been diagnosed with asthma and one in five children carry an inhaler to school, it is a call to action,' the governor said in a statement last week."

And like you, I thought wow that's a lot of people suffering from a chronic condition that is horrible. One in five children carries an inhaler? that doesn't happen even in LA.

But now I was curious, where was the information for the "one in five." I couldn't really find any, not to that extreme anyway.

Oh, and the context for the story is this:

"The state air board recently approved a 2024 completion target for smog cleanup in the Valley, one of the nation's worst air basins. The target date -- approved earlier by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District -- is more than a decade beyond the initial deadline set by the federal government."

The Regulator, excuse me Govenator, wants the above done by 2014, so he fired Robert Sawyer, a Democrat and former university professor, who Gov. Schwarzenegger had appointed 18 months prior.

So, what was the offense of Robert Sawyer? Good question. The following pretty well sums it up:

"San Joaquin Valley air district officials say the region's air will become cleaner in coming years but that the technology does not exist to eliminate vehicle pollution, a major contributor to the smog problem.

"In a recent letter to the editor published in The Bee, Sawyer defended that view: 'The delay takes advantage of approved technology that will not be available until 2014,' he wrote."

But, "'Environmentalists want regulators to adopt stricter standards sooner. Quicker deadlines will force companies to develop clean-air technology, they say.

'"Regulations really do incentivize the technology to be developed,' said Liza Bolaños, Fresno-based coordinator for the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, a nonprofit group representing public health and environmental organizations.

Now before commenting on all of this it's important to know that Asthma has multiple catalysts: such as cold air, house mites, pollens, inactivity--children playing inside, animals, dust etc. Most of the above are listed below (excepting cold air, which I came across more than once).

http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Causes_of_Asthma

So the Regulator Gov. proposes the most expensive, intrusive, business killing, people killing, pie in the sky technology which does not exist, solution. (down turns in the economy limit food and drug production and distribution resulting in bad people effects; lighter cars kill people).

Of course the San Joaquin Valley is one of the dustiest places on Earth, not to mention routinely housing the unique smells of agriculture (which, call me weird, I kind of like whenever I travel through or to) but even so this Asthma thing has been picking up steam since the 80's, which is counter intuitive because Air Pollution has been diminishing over the same time period, but what hasn't been is child inactivity (increased inactivity, stay inside, develop house mites kind of activity).

So, lets see, cheaper, practical solutions like promoting child activity, dusting, programs for mite removal which will work are ignored, but an expensive boondoggle that effectively, if not purposely, supports the fantastic pie-in-the-sky fantasy that Sacramento will be 22 ft. under water in a couple of years is pursued. Cynically?

Of course the Governor's plan is supported by Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA), which came about in1985. They do good work, but it is possible to be overly enthusiastic and perhaps tunnel visioned. I found reference to them in many places. Here are a couple.

http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0503/feeds/rss.xml (scroll down)

http://www.venusproject.com/ecs/Non_Toxic_Times_June_04.html
(regardless of AANMA's work certain people see ways its work can be leveraged)

There home site is here: http://www.aanma.org

My thoughts: Asthma runs form a bad nusciance to possible death for those who suffer from its chronic effects. It is a horrible condition that deserves remedy, and from those of us who don't suffer from it, our sympathy.

I'm not sure that giving children a ubiquitous right-to-carry guarantee is wise, particularly as inhalers have become a common drug for abuse from junior high school on. Though to be clear, any child that could suffer from it to the point of death must have an inhaler in possession, and even those who wouldn’t suffer to that extent but could end up hospitalized, likewise.

But though it is horrible thing, I would certainly hope that the condition wouldn't be used cynically to pass legislation whose primary goal is to increase the power of the state in contradiction to the will of the people.

Is that what is happening here? Can't tell from the bits of information available, but there is a strange smell enveloping the Central Valley.