Smogtown

September 29, 2008
ENCAPSULATING DEFTLY THE WORLDVIEW, HISTORICAL CONTEXT, AND PUBLIC PSYCHOLOGY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS OVER A NUMBER OF DECADES, LOS ANGELES JOURNALISTS JACOBS AND KELLY EXAMINE THE APPROACHES THEY'VE MADE TO THE REGION'S CHRONIC POLLUTION ISSUES, MANY OF WHICH PRESAGE CURRENT, NATION-WIDE TRENDS IN BOTH POLLUTION AND ITS \x81GGREENING.\x81H WITH CASUAL LANGUAGE AND A CINEMATIC SENSE OF THE DRAMATIC, JACOBS AND KELLY DETAIL THE BUILDUP TO THE FAMOUS ORANGE-BROWN L.A. SMOG OF THE 1950S AND '60S: \x81GJUST AT THAT MOMENT, THE BEAST STARTED TO EVOLVE... SOMETIME IN THE LATE 1950S, LEGEND HAD IT THAT A HEN LAID AN EGG THAT L.A. POLLUTION UNACCOUNTABLY TURNED GREEN.\x81H HIGHLIGHTING THE PIONEERING PEOPLE AND GROUPS THAT BLAZED THE TRAIL FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT, JACOBS AND KELLY ALSO EXPLORE THE PROGRESS AND SETBACKS ESTABLISHED BY POLICYMAKERS, INCLUDING A FAMOUSLY CONFLICTED RONALD REAGAN. FINISHED WITH A PARTICULARLY POWERFUL, FORWARD-LOOKING EPILOGUE, THIS FRIENDLY, ACCESSIBLE HISTORY SHOULD APPEAL TO ANY AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALIST. 15 B & W PHOTOS.

September 1, 2008
Starting with the notorious cloud bank that first engulfed the city on July 26, 1943, Los Angeles writers Jacobs and Kelly chronicle six decades of smog and human attempts to destroy it, control it, and live with it in the City of Angels. Writing in a hip, lively style, they recount the efforts of city and state officials, governing boards, scientists, and citizen groups to rid L.A. of the smog with a can-do spirit and an unlimited faith in science, technology, and human ingenuity. This has included mass transportation, electric cars, and huge smoke stacks to carry the smog high above the city. However, the authors note that few people wanted to accept the fact that they, as part of a consumer-driven society based on the automobile, were the reason for "the enemy of their own making," which today contributes to global warming. This intriguing social history of an environmental problem that won't go away is recommended for libraries with regional and environmental collections.Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley Coll., Mt. Carmel, IL

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2008
Remember those great 1950s horror movies, when some superpowerful creature menaced a city while the citizens panicked, law enforcement officials bumbled, politicians pontificated, and plucky scientists worked at a fever pitch to find something, anything, to kill the monster? Thats pretty much the feel of this remarkably entertaining and informative chronicle of the birth andso farinexorable evolution of smog. On July 8, 1943, smog attacked Los Angeles without warning (well, not much warning). People didnt know what to make of this gray mist that blanketed the city, and when it didnt go away (or went away and then came back), the citizenry began to react in strange ways: there were rumors, for example, that this smelly cloud was some sort of chemical attack by the Japaneseless than a year after Pearl Harbor, this claim didnt sound so silly. By 1947, when it looked like smog was here to stay, the governor of California created the countrys first smog agency. The following year, a documentary about smog was released in theaters, animated by some guy named Walt Disney, and a Pulitzer Prizewinning reporter was writing investigative pieces about the stinky mist. Later, smog helped launch Ralph Naders crusading career, and today its a central theme in the environmentalism movement. This book is just amazing, a gripping story well told, with the requisite plucky scientists (including Arie Haagen-Smit, a Dutch biochemist who was the Elvis of his field), hapless politicians, and a nebulous biochemical villain who just will not be stopped.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)