No Spare The Air Alert, But Residents Still Asked Not To Burn Wood

WC-Independent January 3, 2013 at 02:39 pm

Can we save the state a bunch of money and close the 'air quality mgmt district'. What another waste of tax payer dollars. This agency is going after the little people that have a fireplace and use it to enjoy some additional warmth. If the air is so bad, shouldn't they be addressing larger entities? Should we limit traffic, restrict port operations or refineries on the 'spare the air days'? Maybe those big pocket entities are too much for the 'district' to manipulate. The little people with a small fire in their living rooms are much easier targets for this agency to justify their existance.

Chris Nicholson January 3, 2013 at 06:41 pm

The BAAQMD's 2012 budget was ~$132M, up 20% from the prior year. They do a lot more than the "Spare the Air" stuff, but one wonders whether we are getting full value for that $132M. Other than ongoing monitoring and permitting, it is unclear what they spend all that money on.
I am sure there is some minimal stuff we need to do to comply with state and federal mandates and keep our air clean, but the agency seems fat. Personnel costs are about $133K/employee. I am sure most are making less than that, but many must be making far more (again, these are all-in numbers, number "take home pay"-- but still...).

CJ January 3, 2013 at 07:27 pm

The problem with any Government agency is once they are established they continue to expand and gather scope creep. Their staff then believes they have a "mission" to cure the ills they essentially dream up to perpetuate their existence.
BAAQMD,CARB and others exist to regulate specific industries and then expand their "duty" to patroling our streets looking to harass the citizens who pay their salaries. WHen the state finally bleed the cash cow (all of us) dry, they will be the first to be eliminated. I would rather pay for a regulatory bureaucrat to be on unemployment than any other person in the economy. Because you get much more productivity/value from your dollar taking them off their assignment. My guess is a 2:1 value.

CJ January 3, 2013 at 07:54 pm

SInce you bring up Al Gore. Are you aware he just pocketed $100MM by selling his Pro Enviro/Anti Calitalist TV channel "Current TV" to Al Jazeera which is owned by the oil sheiks in Qatar. Their intent is to turn it into a Islamic propaganda TV network in the US. Yes look it up. Unbelievable. Unreal hypocrisy.

Kevin Keeler January 3, 2013 at 07:55 pm

We are all being asked to cut back on our use of fossil fuel to conserve, not pollute etc. But, homes are heated by the stuff in general, plus electricity to drive the heat into our house, which is produced by more fossil fuel, which we are supposed to cut back on. I’ve got my thermostat dialed back to beyond what most people would consider comfortable. This week temps around my home have fallen into the high 20’s at night. So, I can’t augment my heat supply with wood, which means I burn more gas (and electricity derived from gas) to heat my home, which pollutes too. I wonder what they really want from us? Maybe we should tell them what they should do for us? I think the latter is the way it’s supposed to work.

Captain Bebops January 4, 2013 at 02:56 pm

Of course with this colder weather we'll all be asking for a "spare us our PG&E bill" this month.

MIKE ALFORD January 5, 2013 at 09:11 pm

You know when everyone STOPS Smacking Their Rears and gets out of being Politecly Correct and starts Blaming The Real Culpert here in Martinez (SHELL) for Spewing Out over 4.6 million cubic tons of contaments (CO2) a Year Maybe -- Just Maybe We could breathe a Little Better ! ITs been real cold Lately and people Need to have heat to stay healthy ! Now Get that Fire Started --- Stay Warm & Safe