Hmmm……..Why is Del Norte County the Unhealthiest in California!
March 16, 2010
Betty Plowman, CDTOA Membership Services Director
First, I must say that when I awarded myself my PhD from my “School of Hard Knocks” last year, I was somewhat unaware of the tremendous amount of time and studying it would take to not only get but to retain. With my newfound degree in tow at this stage of life, I find myself constantly wanting to learn more about subjects I previously had absolutely no interest in.
Early last month, a story that intrigued me came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and was titled “California’s Unhealthiest Counties.” You can read this yourself by going to www.countyhealthrankings.org/california.
After checking my own county (Solano, ranked 28th) I proceeded to the unhealthiest and found Del Norte, listed at the bottom, number 58, dead last. Del Norte borders Oregon to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
“How can this be?” I thought.
I was made to believe that it was us, you know, the owners of all these killer diesel engines who were responsible for all the ills of the world, including but not limited to premature deaths, asthma, cancer, reproductive harm and even low IQs in children.
A quick trip to Del Norte County’s website took me to pictures of their beautiful forests and the “Old Growth Redwoods.” It also boasted of “no smog.” Further research of their air pollution readings showed 0 days for particulate matter and 0 days for ozone.
The Foundation’s report noted that the poorly ranked counties often had multiple challenges to overcome, including, Two- and three-fold higher rates of premature death, often from preventable conditions.
The report also noted that this county had:
• High smoking rates that lead to cancer, heart disease, bronchitis and emphysema.
• High rates of obesity which can put people at risk for diabetes, disability and heart disease.
• High unemployment and poverty rates.
• High numbers of liquor stores and fast-food outlets, but few places to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
So where and when does the diesel-caused dirty air bullet come into play for this county? The truth is – it doesn’t!
I also searched the results for Contra Costa County (ranked 19), where I grew up. Although Contra Costa only has 5 days of high particulate matter and 2 high ozone days now, nevertheless, its Director of Public Health, Dr. Wendell Brunner made the following statement, “Neighborhoods near busy freeways still suffer from diesel emissions.” See how easy it is to skew the cause of premature death back to diesel with one inaccurate talking point?
Now, let’s show some other statistics from one of our healthiest counties, Santa Clara (ranked 4). Santa Clara County has three interstate freeway, I-280, I-680 and I-880. In addition they have U.S. 101 and eight expressways. If we are to believe Dr, Brunner, one lousy freeway, I-80 and a very short stretch of 580 goes through Richmond and San Pablo, and this is what he chooses to capitalize on.
I submit the following to you, Dr. Brunner, and I say this after growing up in a once very polluted Richmond, CA: you have much more to worry about than diesel emissions, such as poverty, unemployment, lack of access to proper health care and even nutrition, high crime due to joblessness, and the fact that in 2008 this city of 102,000 had 27 people murdered. But no, you cite freeways and vehicle emissions as the leading cause of what – suffering? What in the world are you talking about? You see, folks, these are the types of people who are in charge of your future. We all need to be scared of them and not the diesel emissions!
This all reminds me of a quote by Albert Einstein, sent to me by a member, and very appropriate after reading Dr. Brunner’s comments: “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.”
Fast forward to February 26, the CARB symposium on science that was held in CARB’s green taj mahal in Sacramento. At long last, our side is finally acknowledged. This has been a long tough battle, which both the press and CARB staff tried for eighteen months to keep silenced.
The web administrator at killcarb.org has made the entire presentation available online, and you can access it by going to “The science is not settled” story link.
The first hint that all was not well with the science symposium came when Lee Brown questioned the room the meeting was being held in. None of us who frequent the EPA building were familiar with the “Klamath Room.” Turns out it was a newly-remodeled room on the second floor, which ordinarily would seat 100, but because the scientists would be having open conversations, the tables where they would be seated were placed in a U-shape position, eliminating much of the seating for us common folks.
The only possible reason I could see that this was not being held in the auditorium was because it was previously reserved, but this was not the case. The auditorium would be used for any overflow crowds to view the event on a screen. Frankly, this didn’t make sense, but I though perhaps I was becoming paranoid. Sure enough, as people began to arrive, they were told to go to the auditorium. However, a funny thing happened: there was no sound in the auditorium. AV/Maintenance was called in to make the repairs, but by the time the sound returned, many who had come to observe had already left.
Sitting through eight hours of science, some unfamiliar concepts, terms, words, charts and graphs, I had some difficulty understanding it all, and I thought to myself more than once, “What in the world am I doing here?”
The answer is that I was there to support the brave doctors and scientists who believe that a great injustice has been placed upon the people of California by a powerful agency called the California Air Resources Board (CARB), an agency who has no regard for anything but slightly cleaner air at all costs. This agency, led by activist zealots, has chosen to proceed full speed ahead by putting fear into print before a very uneducated and fearful general public. They rely on premature death fears based on fake science, fake scientists and manipulated data that they will not share with anyone else.
Perhaps the greatest lesson I’ve learned through all of this is that I refuse to believe anything that comes from government employees’ mouths or from government-funded reports. Secondly, I refuse to be fearful of everything I come in contact with. While there are many things I can do to prolong my life, I will not let the government’s “Fear Factor” dominate my every waking minute, especially when it is based on very unsettled science and manipulated findings from government-funded projects by the same old and new quack professors like Pope, Jerrett and Ostro.
As a matter of fact, this summer, I may finally take that trip to Del Norte County to see those giant redwoods, smell that clean air and drink all that clean water (in ice cube form, of course). But I’ll be very cautious of the many man-made problems that have caused this county to be rated the unhealthiest in the state, and, shockingly, it isn’t diesel emissions at all! Wasn’t even on the radar, and why hasn’t the media grabbed on to this?
