Description
The hazy journey to the Clean Air Act.
In July 1943, dark, smoky clouds suddenly descended over Los Angeles, causing residents to complain of burning eyes, nausea, and difficulty breathing. People couldn’t see across the street and visibility was so bad that cars crashed. With World War II raging, many feared a chemical attack by the Japanese, but it soon became evident that no foreign enemy was to blame. The waves of pollution called “smog” — a combination of “smoke” and “fog” — continued and the cause remained a mystery. It was the beginning of an epic struggle for clean air involving years of scientific investigation and civic pressure, bringing together people across ideological divides in a remarkable example of bipartisanship.
CLEARING THE AIR: THE WAR ON SMOG tells the story of how L.A.’s devastating smog problem led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act, which have had an enduring effect on the quality of air Americans breathe.
Official Website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/clearing-air-war-smog/ | #ClearingTheAirPBS
© 2025 WGBH Educational Foundation
00:00 Daylight Dim Out: LA’s First Smog Emergency (1943)
04:03 Post War LA Boom and the California Dream
06:55 Mystery Fog: What Caused LA Toxic Smog?
09:15 Creating LA’s First Air Pollution Agency
12:19 LA Inversion Layer: How Geography Traps Smog
13:44 The 1948 Donora Fluoride Smog Disaster
15:18 Caltech Chemist Arie Haagen Smit Distills Smog
19:30 The Science of Photochemical Smog: Ozone and Gasoline Fumes
21:30 Big Oil Attempts to Undercut Smog Science
28:32 The LA Backyard Incinerator Ban Controversy
30:08 California Freeway Culture and the Auto Explosion
32:32 Stamp Out Smog: Beverly Hills Mothers Protest
36:37 Inventing the Catalytic Converter and the Auto Industry's Cover Up
43:08 Ronald Reagan Establishes the California Air Resources Board
45:10 Earth Day 1970 and Nixon Creates the EPA
46:55 The Clean Air Act of 1970 and New Exhaust Standards
49:49 The Legacy of Clean Air Regulations Today
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