Local Groups Sponsor Events for Cleaner Air

It looked like some kind of weird practical joke.

Someone put white socks over the tailpipes of half a dozen cars parked in an Oxnard High School lot on Monday morning and left the engines running.

But it turned out to be part of an experiment showing that electric- and natural gas-powered vehicles emit less pollution than gas-fueled autos. And it turned out the culprits were not really high school pranksters but environmentally minded science students.

The results: The once-white sock placed on the tailpipe of a 1980 Mercedes sedan came off coal black. The socks on cars burning alternative fuels or electricity remained white.

“I want an electric or methanol car,” said high school freshman Mario Rivera, as he summed up the experiment’s findings. “It is better for the environment.”

But when he gets his driver’s license, Rivera, 14, said he also wants a 1970 Chevelle, which may be hard to find with an alternatively powered engine.

“I would have to change around the whole engine,” Rivera said.

The experiment followed the Ventura County kickoff of Clean Air Month sponsored by the local chapter of the American Lung Assn. And in remarks made by association and other speakers, it was clear that the conventional automobile was clean air’s public enemy No. 1.

According to the association, more than 50% of air pollution in the county comes from cars. Pollution contributes to lung disease, which kills more than 300,000 Americans annually.

Speakers told the audience that each county resident can help limit air pollution by riding a bike to work or taking public transportation more often.

“It we don’t use our cars one day a week for a year, we eliminate 78 pounds of emissions a year,” said Robert Turner, a Port Hueneme city councilman and board member of the county’s Air Pollution Control District. “That’s a lot of pollution.”

Trying to break into the market of environmentally friendly forms of transportation, the Nesen Motor Car Co. of Thousand Oaks came to the event to show off a $1,899 electric bicycle.

With a small battery and motor, the EV Warrior can reach speeds up to 20 mph without its rider having to pedal.

“It’s great,” said Tom Leese, a consultant to the lung association. “It’s got more acceleration than I thought.”

On May 16, the association and the California Bike Coalition will sponsor California Bike Commute Day. Fares on buses operated by South Coast Area Transit will be lowered to 25 cents for the day in an attempt to persuade more commuters to use alternative forms of transportation.

“We have to take individual responsibility for the environment,” said Barbara Weinberg of the association.