While all the people below breathe the same air, and most are aware it is notoriously polluted, she thought about how many people only see pollution from their own narrow view.
Thursday, Merced residents will have an opportunity to broaden their understanding through a community forum that focuses on the complex problem of air pollution.
From pending restrictions on agriculture and high asthma rates to car emissions and weather patterns, panelists will explain why the Valley has some of the nation's worst air.
The forum includes a panel discussion with Tom Jordan of the Valley Air Pollution Control District, Diana Pedrozo of the Merced County Farm Bureau and Mary Michal Rawling of the Merced-Mariposa Asthma Coalition.
The forum, sponsored by the Merced County League of Women Voters, is the first of three community conversations scheduled between now and May 2005.
After the panelists give 15to 20-minute introductions, a moderator will take questions from the audience for the experts.
Walsh, the league's vice president, said she hopes the forums will spur a statewide study of air pollution issues by the California League of Women Voters.
The league has done studies on the state's community college and mental heath care systems and came up with a list of recommendations in the 1990s.
A survey released last year by the Great Valley Center and the Public Policy Institute of California showed that air pollution is the one issue about which Valley residents are most concerned.
But because the problem has so many factors, Walsh said bringing different voices together in a forum is needed to help promote practices that spare the air.
"Air pollution has been a topic on people's minds and lungs here in the Valley, and things have gotten worse," she said. "Until you get people talking about it and talking with people who know what they're talking about, you don't get your community to move on."
Pollution officials ready for questions
All are welcome:
Community pollution forum, 7 p.m. Thursday, Merced City Council Chambers, 678 W. 18th St. Reporter David Chircop can be reached at 385-2453 or dchircop@mercedsun-star.com.
