California looks to a greener future: Transportation plans look promising

Cities like San Francisco will
benefit from cleaner air in the years to come
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos

California has been stereotyped as a health-crazed, fresh food-eating, bikini-wearing destination, but ironically, it is also one of the most polluted states in the country.

In last year’s State of the Air report, Californian cities were featured, overall, six times in the top 10 most polluted cities in the United States. 

But the Golden state is looking to change that… eventually.

Since $3.3 billion were freed up this year, plans to build a high-speed railway system were approved. Groundbreaking starts in 2013 and there is a lot buzz around this project as experts look forward to what this will mean for the state’s environmental status.

A study published in the journal, Environmental Research Letters, determined this project would be the greenest public transportation yet: greener anyway than automobiles and airplanes. This conclusion was based on greenhouse gas emissions as well as energy consumption for all three forms of transportation. 

The new high-speed railway system will serve several cities by linking them together. Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego will one day be connected by something other than a highway. 

But don’t hold your breath just now. It may take up to 30 years for California to start to reap environmental benefits from this project: around the time the railway system will become fully operational.

What do you think of this project? Is it too little too late? Share your thoughts with us!

Source: ScienceDaily

While we're waiting...

 

In the meantime, it is up to companies and individuals to do their part in reducing emissions, through carpooling, reducing energy use within companies and taking care of each others’ health and well-being while indoors.

Electrocorp's I-6500 series is just
one of many units that can clean
indoor air pollution in the workplace

Environmental experts specialize in helping individuals and businesses develop more eco-conscious solutions to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. 

For companies looking to improve indoor air quality, there are many different air cleaners available at Electrocorp that can make work spaces healthier for employees. 

Our air cleaners include activated carbon filters to adsorb chemicals and gases that enter offices from the outdoors, and HEPA filters to extract particulates from the air.

For more information on Electrocorp’s units, contact us.

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