Local Sierra Club volunteers collected more than 1,200 post cards at the EarthFair in Balboa Park to send to President Clinton in support of the proposed health-based standards. Research reported by the Club contradicts Golding's fears that standards will cost too much. For example, research shows that rather than costing agriculture, farmers will benefit under new clean air standards. New standards will help protect farmers and workers who have to work outdoors, as well as reduce crop damage from air pollution. Air pollution causes crop damage even at levels below the current, legal standard.
Studies show that smog significantly reduces the yield of key commodity crops.
According to the National Crop Loss Assessment Network Ozone Study, reduced crop yields from dirty air annually cost our country one billion bushels of corn and more than two hundred million bushels of soybeans. In California, the agriculture sector is already experiencing problems caused by air pollution. But we need a regional approach with the best possible science. SB1096 would offer financial incentives and tax credits for the switch to cleaner fuels in heavy-duty vehicles and for refueling stations to support those vehicles. CCAP believes that improved standards, combined with programs such as those in SB1096, will create new jobs and clear the air at the same time.