AVENAL — A proposed 600-megawatt natural gas power plant near Avenal in limbo for more than half a decade appears to have imploded.

Every one of the 48 national parks with the greatest Clean Air Act protections are plagued by significant air pollution.

Several factors are known to consistently hold our county down in the major health rankings conducted annually. Locally, these include our poverty level, unemployment rate, and low medical provider-to- population ratios with contributing impact from the national obesity and diabetes epidemics. But unique to this valley is the COMBINATION of these factors compounded by the poor quality of the air we breathe.

Since its 1991 formation as the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (Air District), this sham of a health agency has continuously shown allegiance to big polluters and scorn for the breathing public.