Smoglandia Pt 4: SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT, BESTIES?

About this episode

The episode discusses California's efforts to combat smog and improve air quality, highlighting key figures and events in the state's environmental history.

Well, it took long enough. We finally realized that smog didn’t stop at some city limits line … that burning the family trash in the backyard incinerator wasn’t a good idea … and California started putting muscle into getting the air clean. Governor Ronald Reagan made the Caltech “father of smog” the head of the new state air resources board, TV stations began reporting smog alerts along with weather forecasts, and one stubborn LA county supervisor started his ten-year letter-writing crusade scolding the Big Four automakers about cleaner-burning engines. And a Louisiana gal named Seraphine was tooling around smoggy LA in her Triumph convertible and gas mask. Spoiler: she still lives here.

Topics covered

• air quality
• environmental policy
• California history
• automotive industry
• smog
• public health

Keywords

• smog
• California
• air resources board
• Ronald Reagan
• automakers
• public health
• environmental policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Caltech, Big Four

Places: California, LA, Louisiana

More episodes of Boiling Point

• Introducing: The De Los Podcast · June 3, 2026 · 12 min
• Smoglandia Pt 6: FUTURE ELECTRIC, FUTURE TROUBLE · December 11, 2025 · 45 min
• Smoglandia Pt 5: SMOG CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK · December 4, 2025 · 38 min
• Smoglandia Pt 3: COUGH COUGH · November 13, 2025 · 34 min
• Smoglandia Pt 2: SCIENCE TO THE RESCUE · November 6, 2025 · 33 min
• Smoglandia Pt 1: L.A. SMOG – VERY OLD-SCHOOL · October 30, 2025 · 25 min