Local elected officials, residents and business leaders will help San Diego Wednesday join other major California cities in celebrating Clean Air Day.
Clean Air Day is billed as "a unified day of action across the state to focus on the simple solutions Californians can do to improve air quality," according to the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Clean Air, the public policy advocate that launched the event.
At Fair@44 in San Diego, elected officials and local business leaders will hold a news conference at 4:30 p.m. before the event begins at 5 p.m. In addition to San Diego, Los Angeles, Inglewood, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Francisco are also holding Clean Air Day events.
"San Diego is well-known for its beautiful beaches and great quality of life, but what most don't realize is that the region's air pollution has been getting worse over the past few years," said Fabiola Lao, senior transportation policy manager for the Center for Sustainable Energy. "Data from our Equinox Quality of Life Dashboard indicate the number of unhealthy air days in San Diego increased 48 percent from 2016 to 2017."
Assemblyman Todd Gloria, San Diego City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez and representatives from San Diego Gas & Electric, the Center for Sustainable Energy, the Coalition for Clean Air and the City Heights Community Development Corporation are expected to attend the event. Gomez, Gloria, SDG&E and the Center for Sustainable Energy helped organize the event with City Councilman Chris Ward, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher and the Greenlining Institute.
"Improving mobility options, including public transportation, is an opportunity to improve the health of San Diegans and our quality of life," Gomez said. "Transit builds communities and connects us together."
The Coalition for Clean Air also encourages residents to go to cleanairday.org and pledge to curb actions that pollute the air, including driving gasoline-powered vehicles, smoking and using gas-powered lawnmowers and grills. California residents have pledged to take nearly 750,000 combined actions to keep the state's air clean.
"Clean air is such an important issue for our communities," said Joseph K. Lyou, the president and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air. "We are proud to be a part of this effort and look forward to engaging our stakeholders around things they can do to clear the air on October 3rd."
