Los Angeles area residents can breath a bit easier now that the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have banned pre-1989 diesel-spewing trucks as part of an exemplary pollution-control project. Removing 350 million tons of diesel emissions from the air will go a long way to reducing child asthma rates, drivers risk for cancer and hopefully the 1,200 annual deaths associated with the pollution.

Unfortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger, another brawny relic of the 80’s, has vetoed a bill that would have raised $300 million annually for congestion relief and clean-air technologies. It seems Governor Sarah Palin, along with other corporate interests,  strong-armed Schwarzenegger into shutting down this bipartisan clean air effort by claiming it was a threat to the state’s fragile economy. Let’s hope he’ll be back (sorry, couldn’t help it) with a plan that goes even further in helping clear up pollution and health hazards, and doesn’t continue to bow to conservative and corporate interests.

takepart by learning more from the Coalition for Clean Air and demand that Gov. Schwarznegger support clean-air legislation.