Tom Stallard
Volunteer Chairman, Cleaner Air Partnership

When did air quality first become an issue for you?  I remember moving into a little house in Irvine in 1970 with a beautiful view of Saddleback Mountain only a short distance away.  At the same time, Interstate 405 was completed in that part of Orange County.  Six months later, we couldn't even see Saddleback anymore unless it was a very windy day.  Years later after relocating to Woodland I noticed during drives to Sacramento that the Sierra were frequently obscured by ugly brown haze. 

Fortunately, tremendous progress has been made in the intervening years, though we are still designated "severe non-attainment", meaning that our air quality is poor.  But visually, the progress is obvious.  Now we must deal not only with nitrous oxide--NOX--which comes from tail pipe emissions and factory stacks, but the equally destructive impacts of particles--soot and even dust--which come from many places including diesel emissions, land tilling,  and field burning among others.

The Cleaner Air Partnership is committed to taking the discussion beyond the exclusive realm of the air quality professionals out into the larger community of concerned citizens.  We do this through quarterly forums, thorough study, newsletters and this web site.  Frankly, cleaning our air is an "all hands effort".  Those who have devoted their professional lives to this activity need the help and support of all of us. 

Join with Breathe California, the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and Valley Vision in continuing this dialogue intended to provide answers and develop concensus on solutions we can all work on together.  This is interesting work, and frankly, the journey is fun.  Welcome aboard!

Tom Stallard
Chairman