Health & Fitness
Fire rings ban gets national attention
Once an obscure, local controversy, today the likely fires rings ban gains national attention and more people learn of the adverse health effects.
I'm celebrating tonight.
Today I biked to my dentist appointment at South Coast Plaza; 1 hour each way. The further I got from home the less accommodation I felt, but what a great stress reliever after 2 hours in the chair.
This is the first time I traveled this route, so I budgeted extra time. Arriving 30 minutes early, I pulled out my smartphone to see this story in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/us/pollution-concerns-could-douse-california-beach-fires.html
At home now I'm spending way too much time on social media. This once obscure advocacy issue has gone nuclear. The end result isn't clear, but word of the adverse health effects of the beach bonfires spreads.
At home and abroad, the media attention encourages advocates against open burning everywhere to add emphasis to their own initiatives.
Banning fire pits in Newport Beach could easily lead to a state-wide ban; once the precedent is set, advocates up and down the coast will mobilize. As California asserts this leadership in air quality, a new worldwide awareness will grow with major benefits in public health.
This all started with the Newport Beach City Council's 2012 unanimous decision to remove 60 local fire pits.
Maybe I'll wake up to front page coverage in the print edition. I've got my fingers crossed...
