num_pages: 384
description: The smog beast wafted into downtown Los Angeles on July 26 1943. Nobody knew what it was. Secretaries rubbed their eyes. Traffic cops seemed to disappear in the mysterious haze. Were Japanese saboteurs responsible? A reckless factory? The truth was much worse--it came from within from Southern California's burgeoning car-addicted suburban lifestyle.Smogtown is the story of pollution progress and how an optimistic people confronted the epic struggle against airborne poisons barraging their hometowns. With wit verve and a fresh look at history California based journalists Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly highlight the bold personalities involved the corporate- tainted science the terrifying health costs the attempts at cleanup and how the smog battle helped mold the modern-day culture of Los Angeles. There are scofflaws aplenty and dirty deals plus murders suicides spiritual despair and an ever-present paranoia about mass disaster.Brimming with historic photographs forgotten anecdotes and new revelations about our environmentally precarious present Smogtown is a journalistic classic for the modern age.
language: English
title: Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles
publisher: Abrams Press