The LA Times is reporting a controversial clean air plan that might possibly put out the use of home fireplaces throughout Southern California is passed in Septemeber. The South Coast Air Quality Management District plan proposes "a ban on wood-burning fireplaces in all new homes in Los Angeles, Orange and portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties and a ban on wood-fueled fires in some areas during winter pollution spikes."
Homeowners living in the Inland Empire would be required to remove or close off fireplaces and wood stoves, or install pollution control devices on them, before selling a house. Tens of thousands of home could be affected, with very little effect on overall reduction of polluting emissions.
Hmmm, we're all for reducing pollution and meeting the federal Clean Air Act, but we're doubtful that our chimneys are the real culprits of pollution here in Los Angeles. Why not go after polluting industries first, then get back to us about our hardly used fireplaces. What next, our briquet and woodchip fueled BBQs? Nooooooo!
In other news, sales of fireplace DVDs expected to heat up.
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Comments (5)
For a number of years Kern County (or at least the portion that I live in - about 40 miles east of Bakersfield) has had "no burn" days in which the use of wood burning stoves or fireplaces is discouraged unless it's the only source of heat for your home. That edict hasn't yet stretched all the way to the Tehachapi mountains, but I'm sure it will soon. Phoenix had the same thing when I lived there 10 years ago. As far as I know, they've not yet mandated not putting them into new homes or requiring that existing ones be removed or fitted with a pollution control devise.
This seems like a lame attempt to draw attention away from the truly serious issues that threaten air quality in Southern California.
How about doing something about the availablity
and cost of public trasportation?? RTD just raised their rates again!
If you want to start small and make an impact, finally outlaw the use of gas powered leaf blowers that contribute to the noise level in our neighborhoods and contribute a great deal to airpollution with their tiny single stroke engines. We may have to pay our gardeners a little more, but how serious are we about reducing air pollution in this city?
Wood burning fireplaces pump out an incredible amount of pollution, including soot, which is terrible for people with respiratory conditions like asthma. They're far, far worse than the exhaust from any modern car.
>Typical California mentality...regulate the hell out
>of everything.
Right. Which is why Phoenix passed regulations regarding wood fireplaces a decade before Los Angeles.
D'oh!
Wood burning fireplaces are fine out in the woods, where there are only a few cabins every square mile. But they're an air pollution disaster in a densely populated area like Los Angeles, where tens of thousands of them can be pouring pollution into the air every night.
Gas fireplaces are a far cleaner alternative, and in the end probably cheaper to run.
Yikes - the hearth is the heart of the home!
MS Beachwood - my seemingly quiet street has much worse noise pollution than mid-town Manhattan due to the stupid leaf blowers - my biggest pet peeve - I mean, perhaps use them a few times in the fall, but why are they constantly going all day long in June?
becky
'Typical California mentality...regulate the hell out of everything.
There's a simple answer - vote the uber liberal morons out of office."
Yep. conservative colorado has had this in place for YEARS. No burn days, no drive days, etc. I am not sure the removal from use is the way to go though.