What Is “California Gasoline”?

I will do my best to explain, and you will learn all about air pollution in California. Yes, it will get rather technical and we might end up in the scientific jargon weeds. This is unavoidable: the very legal existence of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) rests on a rather subtle technical point that is no longer valid.

WHAT COMES OUT OF THE TAILPIPES OF CARS

Rather remarkably, regardless of what you may think about evil, polluting gasoline powered cars, most of what comes out is carbon dioxide and water. Problem: small amounts of partially burned gasoline, carbon particulates, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen also come out, and these are the pollutants we need to reduce/eliminate.

OZONE

This is the real health danger in the air. Interestingly, ozone does not come out of the the tailpipe of cars. Reducing the amount of this substance in our air is also the heart and soul of the legal authority of CARB to their Byzantine regulations.

NO(X) and BROWN AIR

When I was kid growing up in the Los Angeles Basin, which is surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountains, the air was always brown. Not only could you see it, you could smell it and often times in summer you could not even see the mountains. This is caused by the oxides of nitrogen. Oddly, this might have been really gross and the original political impetus for air pollution regulations in the first place, but it is not much of a health hazard compared to ozone.

VOC

You will often see this phrase in CARB regulations, and it stands of 'volatile organic compounds'. Steady, stay with me, this is the heart and soul of the justification of CARB existence in the first place. Have you ever spilt some gasoline on the ground or opened up a tin of paint thinner? Did you notice that acrid, petroleum-like smell? These are the infamous VOCs. In combination in temps in the high 80's and sunlight (read UV light), they produce the naughty ozones. This is why most varnishes have something called “VOC compliant” statements on the label or why gasoline nozzles have that rubber thingie making it impossible to insert the nozzle into your gas tank. And, since early cars also coughed out small amounts of partially consumed gasoline including VOCs, this gave CARB the legal authority to regulate cars and the fuel they used, not to mention carpenters and furniture folks who use these types of solvents.

LEVs

Lo and behold, a miracle occurred: low emission vehicles (LEV). First was Honda, followed soon by Toyota in the late 80's. See, the original environmental justification for public transit buses was this: even though buses were diesel and coughed up mucho pollution, it was still less than if the occupants thereof drove their own cars. However, if everyone on that bus drove an LEV, it would produce less pollution than the public transit diesel bus. All it took was a bit of clever of engineering and tweaking of the carburetor (not to mention someone who got more than the B- in Chem 12 that I got at Cal). This is the reason LA air is no longer as brown as it used to be, and having absolutely nothing with CARB efforts.

SPARE THE AIR DAYS

I hope by now that you have one gigantic question: what the heck does this have to do with the famous “Spare The Air Days”, and realize that this is really a worthless joke. Fireplaces, BBQs, lawnmowers, and gas leaf-blowers have nothing to do with pollution. On these days, there is only one thing that will decrease ambient air pollution: cars, public transit buses, and diesel trucks. The one thing that CARB did with a measurable impact on pollution is free public transit days: people really do ride buses and leave their cars at home. Of course, faced with a budget cut, CARB eliminated the one thing they did that really reduces air pollution: free rides on public transit.

Government bureaucrats: go figure.

SUMMER GASOLINE

No doubt, you have heard this phrase in the news. You also know that it is more expensive. Whaddup? To get California 'summer gasoline', refiners must filter out the lighter, more ethereal VOCs. The theory is that the less there is of these lighter hydrocarbons, the less they will get into the air and therefore produce less ozone in the summer. Problem: in the early 90's, CARB declared that year round ozone levels in California met environmental standards and they achieved their goal. You might think that this would be the basis for a big party, not to mention the folding up of the CARB tent. No way. To this day, they have continually tightened standards and required yet more pernicious regulations, even though, legally, California no longer has air pollution.

BOUTIQUE GASOLINE PRICE

Filtering out the volatiles costs money, and this is why California has the so-called 'boutique' gasoline. Standard RBOB (Google it, people) does not meet these CARB requirements. So, we lucky motorists in California in summer have a special gasoline that costs more produced specially for us specifically by gasoline refineries in California.

IN CONCLUSION

I hope that, by now, you have deduced that in my personal opinion, CARB can simply fold tent and go home. They have done their job, and bravo. We can, without hurting our air, use standard RBOB gasoline year round, and that 'SPARE THE AIR DAYS' are no longer necessary for public health.

Bust out the California sparkling wine.