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Welcome to Yolo Clean Air...
About Us
Yolo Clean Air is a
Our
Our
Join Our Current Flagship Campaign...Reducing
Wintertime Particulate Pollution by up to 50% by Ending the Use of Wood-Burning
Fireplaces and Appliances
Frequent asthma attacks, recurring bronchitis that won't go away, respiratory
failures leading to hospitalization, children needing inhalers just to get
through the school day...these incidents are becoming common, everyday
occurrences in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys from Redding to
Bakersfield.
We know that particulate matter in air pollution causes or can induce these
respiratory problems especially in our susceptible populations - seniors and
children And we know that residential wood burning in the winter months
with stagnant weather can increase particulate matter in neighborhood air to
well above Federal air quality standards. Reducing this excessive pollution
produced by residential wood-burning fireplaces and appliances is just one area
in which simple behavioral changes (i.e. not using wood-burning fireplaces,
stoves, or inserts) can dramatically reduce airborne pollution without changing
the real quality of life in our region. Indeed, the Sacramento Air Quality
Management District estimates that 50% or more of wintertime particulate
pollution is caused by wood smoke from residential wood-burning.
Since it has been clearly established by many that using natural gas or electricity
is a more economical choice than burning purchased firewood to provide home
heat, curtailing the use of residential wood-burning for home heating in urban
areas would not cause any economic harm to the vast majority of consumers. And
the social benefits in terms of decreased acute care health costs during winter
months could be enormous.
Restricting the use of wood-burning for home-heating may seem to be a radical
solution to some homeowners and, having loved our own fireplaces in the not too
distant past, we do understand the warm feeling that everybody gets when they
think of cozy evenings in front of a blazing fire when there is a real chill
outside. Unfortunately, that same warm fire everyone enjoys so much inside is
also dumping pounds of toxic particulate pollutants into the immediate
neighborhood outside air and choking residents with respiratory problems for
blocks around. We simply believe that the respiratory health of all of our
seniors and youth is too great of a sacrifice to make for the sake of a little
ambiance or short-term enjoyment one gets from their wood-burning fireplaces
and stoves.
Note that we are NOT advocating restrictions against the use of any natural gas
or propane-fueled fireplaces or heaters as they produce only a very small
fraction of the pollution produced by their wood-burning counterparts. We also
support exceptions for wood-burning appliances designed and used solely for
cooking and where there is no other home heating alternative economically
available.
Please read more about this growing air quality problem in our website and join
us to make the air cleaner for all residents of Yolo Co. At minimum, think a
little more about it before you light up your woodstove or fireplace on the
next quiet, frosty evening. Please make sure there is a wind speed of at least
6 mph or more (the tree branches should be swaying) to properly disperse the
smoke. Otherwise, the warm and comfortable feeling you get by lounging in front
of your toasty fireplace may not be shared by the poor kid from 2 blocks away
that can barely breathe because of an acute asthma attack induced by your
pollution.
Thank You
Alan Pryor, Director
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