During a week when the citizens of San Diego are celebrating the natural world and a sincere commitment to planetary health, the city mayor is lurking in the shadows, dreaming about her political future, making deals with corporate devils and turning the city into a perfect imitation of Los Angeles.
If you miss the blue sky and wonder when it may return, don’t hold your breath. Or maybe you should. Store up the air before it gets worse.
Last week Mayor Susan Golding called for the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw new proposals for clean air standards. She compared the standards, scheduled to take effect in July, to the federal waste-water treatment standards San Diego successfully dodged last year after a long court battle. Golding contends that much like the waste-water proposals would have, the clean air proposals would impose an insufferable burden on the city. The question is, who’s really suffering the burden here and who’s only thinking about her future campaign for a seat on the Senate?
The EPA’s proposals concern ozone (which is good in small doses, bad in big doses and is a major component of smog) and tiny particles, or “particulate matter,” produced by steel mills, cars burning diesel fuel and power plants burning coal. The EPA is calling for limits on both ozone and tiny particles. So what is there to oppose?
Golding contends that the clean air standards are not proven to have a substantial effect on air quality and instead would serve to hurt small businesses, forcing them to downsize their staffs, thereby killing health benefits for the people of San Diego.
Who does Golding think she’s kidding?
The “P” in EPA stands for Protection protection of public health and safety. Accusing the new clean air standards of threatening public health is ludicrous, ignorant and self-aggrandizing on Golding’s part. How can she believe that the air quality of San Diego is not only currently acceptable, but acceptable forever? She is essentially proposing that San Diego do absolutely nothing about air pollution. Is this the kind of senator we want in the future?
By cozying up to and protecting big business, Golding is clearly setting herself up for higher positions in Washington. She was last year’s most hospitable host of the Republican National Convention because she understood that she was making friends who would help boost her into the national spotlight. Must San Diego’s health suffer at the hands of its mayor’s political aspirations?
The debate surrounding the waste-water treatment standards was justified. But Golding never argued about the scientific aspects of the plans. Throughout the entire episode she argued about money. She has never cared about the health of her city. She’s not about to start now.
