Sunset through a Polluted Bakersfield Sky. (Andy Castro: Flickr)
Earlier this month, KQED’s Sasha Khokha reported Central Valley residents’ concerns that the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District was not effectively communicating public health warnings on poor air quality days.
Just hours after that report aired, State of Health brought news that the Valley Air District had issued an air quality alert using significantly stronger language than it had used before. Air quality activists were pleased with the new tone.
Today, air quality activists are cheering again. California Governor Jerry Brown appointed a new member to the Valley Air District board. And not just anyone, but a physician with a long background in public health. The new appointee, Dr. Alex Sherriffs, is a professor at UCSF-Fresno in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. He also has been in private practice in Fowler since 1983.