Boiling Point – “Smoglandia Pt 5: SMOG CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK”

Podcast: Boiling Point (LA Times Studios)
Host: Pat Morrison
Air Date: December 4, 2025
Episode Purpose:
This episode delves into California’s decades-long battle with smog, focusing on the history, politics, science, and policy solutions behind air pollution control—particularly the origins and impact of the “smog check” program. With insight from key players like Mary Nichols (“Queen of Green”), Richard Katz, and AQMD veterans, the narrative uncovers art, culture, resistance, and the ever-evolving challenge of cleaning the state’s air.

Episode Overview

“Smoglandia Pt 5” explores how smog became Los Angeles’s most unrelenting foe, detailing both cultural perceptions and practical responses. Host Pat Morrison weaves together stories from art, activism, public outrage, regulatory innovation, and, most notably, the controversial but impactful “smog check” program. The narrative traverses decades, highlighting political friction, legal fights, and moments of human stubbornness and ingenuity that shaped the air Californians breathe today.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Smog—Culture, Metaphor, and Art

• The City’s Identity:
  • Visual art and smog are intertwined in how Angelenos experience and represent their city.
  • Ed Shad (Broad Museum): “[Smog] does offer a strange quality to the light here, but the smog is also a bit of a metaphor.” (00:55)
  • The exhibition “Desire, Knowledge and Hope with Smog” tries to look past LA clichés, seeing the city through the smog’s harsh reality. (01:12)
• Ed Ruscha's Iconic Painting:
  • Morrison and Shad discuss Ruscha’s “Honey, I twisted through more damn traffic to get here” as a perfect encapsulation of LA’s beauty and burden:
    • “The subtext here is and here had damn well better be worth it.” – Pat Morrison (03:55)

2. Mary Nichols—A Reluctant Smog Warrior

• Personal Smog Epiphany:
  • Nichols describes her first encounter with LA smog in 1969 as “a very strange orange color, and it was appalling. I never got over that first impression.” (06:45)
• Beginning Legal Battles:
  • Soon after arriving, Nichols sues the EPA to help Southern California cities fight air pollution.
    • “The air pollution situation was pretty bad.” (07:27)
• Regulatory Tides Turn:
  • The establishment of the EPA and the passage of the Clean Air Act (early 1970s) mark a new era, empowering states and citizens to fight pollution.
  • California leads with innovations:
    • First tailpipe standards (1967)
    • Limits on nitrogen oxides and the push for catalytic converters (1970s)
    • Phasing out leaded gasoline (1992)
    • Unique gas-blend regulations and “designer” summer/winter fuels (11:29)

3. The Human Factor—Culture, Resistance, and Equity

• Public Pushback on Regulation:
  • Nichols describes overhearing older men at the airport trivializing her appointment:
    • “They were talking about how there’s some girl who had been appointed… I didn’t think I was some girl. I felt more than well qualified...” (12:27)
  • Dr. Ari Haagen-Smit’s “Rule of Human Nature”:
    • “One should not overestimate the public desire to support stiff measures.” (13:29)
    • Resistance to anything that feels like a personal sacrifice is strong and persistent.
  • Balancing health vs. economics:
    • “The tension has always been between health benefits, which are generally unseen and longer term, and economic benefits, which are immediate and visible.” – Pat Morrison (14:31)
    • Nichols: “We did have science on our side to show that the lung damage caused by smog was ongoing… People understand that and experience it in a very visceral way…” (15:06)

4. Early Policy Experiments—Success, Controversy, and Folklore

• Programs Tried:
  • Carpooling/carpool incentives (Ride-sharing): (16:13)
    • From workplace mandates to “a buck a day” bonuses.
  • Diamond Lanes:
    • The infamous Santa Monica Freeway experiment (1976):
      • “Diamond Lane cheaters” and wild attempts to skirt the law (fake passengers, mannequins, etc.).
      • “Solo drivers spitefully flung nails into the diamond lane.” (17:50)
      • Massive backlash, ending after just 21 weeks.
  • Consumer Grievances:
    • Letter from Earlene Whittington encapsulates the resentment many natives felt at being penalized for population growth and change. (20:48)

5. Smog Check—The Most Hated (and Effective) Reform

• The Controversy:
  • Nichols: “Smog check was one of the toughest things I ever worked on because it was going to affect everybody who owned a car…” (22:36)
  • The process: time-consuming, sometimes costly, with the threat of further repairs.
  • It wasn’t a single law, but “a rolling snowball”: programs to help low-income drivers, classics exemptions, incentives for scrapping the dirtiest cars. (23:26)
• The Federal vs. State Saga:
  • In the 1990s, as EPA Assistant Administrator, Nichols finds herself negotiating against her own state.
    • “I was sent out to try to somehow solve this problem.” – Nichols (24:28)
  • Richard Katz (Assembly Transportation Committee):
    • “In a lot of cases we see the federal government… the notion that one size fits all… but it doesn’t make any of our constituents’ lives easier out here.” (25:53)
    • Katz favored neighborhood access to smog check, not inconvenient central testing stations:
      • “We wanted to make sure that it was convenient enough that people didn’t have an excuse for not participating.” (26:36)
  • Compromise: stricter standards + allowing private shops, but with serious anti-fraud enforcement.
• Fraud and Enforcement:
  • Examples of certificate forgeries, sting operations, and the “OBDonator” cheating device demonstrate resistance and adaptation. (28:49)
• Protecting California’s Autonomy:
  • Nichols: “California withheld its vote [on the Clean Air Act] until there was a guarantee that the state could continue to enforce its own stricter regulations.” (30:29)

6. Pollution in Unexpected Places—The Expanding War on Smog

• AQMD’s Surprising Discoveries:
  • Sam Atwood (AQMD):
    • The “barbecue rule”—even lighter fluid was targeted as a smog source.
    • “Angelenos were finding out that smog makers were right there in their houses… So did dry cleaners, almost every kind of paint, deodorants, breweries and commercial bakeries…” (33:06)
    • Reformulation requirements on paints, solvents, consumer products succeeded, often over life-and-death industry resistance. (34:50)
• Citizens Demand Action:
  • Lee Torgerson—JPL architect and former student activist—describes pushing AQMD for stricter regulation and better public education:
    • “People weren’t going to accept it unless they had more education on why they have to bear this additional burden of cost.” (36:10)
    • He recalls egregiously unsafe workplace exposure to industrial solvents as a teen, highlighting ignorance of chemical hazards. (37:14)
    • His final plea: “Let’s make Los Angeles a city people can be proud of.” (38:19)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Smog as Metaphor:
  • “The smog does offer a strange quality to the light here, but the smog is also a bit of a metaphor.” — Ed Shad (00:55)
• On Public Health vs. Economics:
  • “The tension has always been between health benefits, which are generally unseen and longer term, and economic benefits, which are immediate and visible.” — Pat Morrison (14:31)
• On the Burden of Regulation:
  • “Smog check was one of the toughest things I ever worked on because it was going to affect everybody who owned a car…The legislature really did not want to face what they assume would be a big public backlash.” — Mary Nichols (22:36)
• On Regulatory Resistance:
  • “People weren’t going to accept it unless they had more education on why they have to bear this additional burden of cost.” — Lee Torgerson (36:10)
• On California’s Unique Role:
  • “The fact that we have the ability as a state to set our own more stringent motor vehicle standards is because California held out against the very original Clean air Act in 1970…” — Mary Nichols (30:29)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:48-03:55 – Smog in LA’s artistic imagination (Ed Shad, Pat Morrison)
• 06:29-10:52 – Mary Nichols’s entry into smog regulation, activist and legal foundations
• 12:27-14:19 – Sexism & ageism in regulatory politics; Haagen-Smit’s rule
• 15:06-16:13 – The case for public health and scientific evidence
• 16:13-20:01 – Early smog control measures: carpooling, diamond lanes, public backlash
• 22:36-24:39 – Smog check: inception, political pain, public burden
• 25:06-27:44 – The federal/state turf war (Richard Katz, Mary Nichols)
• 28:49-30:29 – Enforcement, fraud, and California’s regulatory independence
• 32:38-34:50 – Expanding smog regulation to consumer products and surprising polluters (Sam Atwood)
• 35:02-37:14 – Citizen action and the personal toll of pollution (Lee Torgerson)

Episode Tone

Pat Morrison’s tone is storytelling, sharp, and reflective—mixing reverence for LA’s wild history with a wry awareness of the absurdities and ironies inherent in public policy and public response. Guests like Mary Nichols, Richard Katz, and Sam Atwood bring personal anecdotes, humor, and sometimes frustration, illuminating the real-world consequences and ongoing challenges of fighting smog in California.

For the Uninitiated

If you haven’t heard the episode, this summary captures the texture of California’s multigenerational fight against smog. The episode threads together science, art, grassroots activism, regulatory nitty-gritty, spectacular public outcry, and the long-lasting “smog check” compromise—reminding listeners that progress is always local, personal, hotly contested, and, at times, incredibly creative.

Next time on Smoglandia:
Can 70 years of progress be undone? Plus, a cross-country electric car race like no other, pitting MIT against Caltech. Stay tuned.