Thoughts on California complaint automotive maintenance chemicals

Do you live in California? I don't, but I hear that the air around LA and San Francisco is really bad and the inhabitants do suffer more from respiratory complaints than other regions of the industrialised world (although not as bad as London, England when most households were still heated by burning coal).

While many things suggested by envirowhiners are the fruits of neo-luddism and deserve all of the recognition that they get (mostly none, except when they rail against nuclear power*), they are occassionally correct.

Approximately 9/3/03 07:02, Richard Bell uttered for posterity:

Yes, but not a native.

In the San Jose Bay area [renamed from SF Bay, since San Jose is now way larger], the air isn't that bad, the worst stuff tends to hang out over on the eastern edge, with only a few air warnings a year.

Los Angeles tends to be worse because of the terrain that creates low level inversions that trap pollutants. Sometimes the air gets pretty brownish, but *nothing* like it was back in the early 70's. In the early 1970's, if you were on the eastern edge of the LA basin say along the road to Riverside, you would have a hard time seeing a few car lengths away.

Neither area is anywhere near as bad as Mexico City. Or much of Italy. Or South Korea, or Japan, or larger cities in South America. All directly experienced over many visits.

Yes, because the offshore breeze blows it to the central valley which is why we are now going to Smog Check II. Try the air in Modesto for a while, you won't like it.

I've used brake cleaner lately (in the east bay area), and it worked fine, so what's the problem?