To the editor: Should we all stand up and applaud the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) for their decision to eliminate gas-powered pool heaters? This is just another easy-to-pass regulation that will end up costing consumers money.
My complaint with the AQMD? It won't touch the cars. You can have as many cars as you want. You can drive as many miles as you want. You can buy and consume as much gasoline as you want. Air pollution will continue to be a problem as long as the roads are clogged with cars and trucks.
Let's face it: regulating pool heaters is just a drop in the bucket. Drive down Highway 405 in the morning or afternoon and you'll see why we have so much air pollution.
Peter Marquard, Northridge
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To the editor: I have a gas pool heater and I never use it because it is too expensive to do so. I use a solar cover if I want to heat the pool.
Another problem when getting rid of gas appliances is not simply purchasing an electric appliance. If you have an older home that was not wired to support new appliances, you should hire an electrician to upgrade your panel and rewire your home so it can handle the new equipment. This is a considerable cost to go electric.
The government must take this into account with new regulations.
I'm not saying the change shouldn't be made, but to achieve the goal of reducing climate emissions and air pollution, the government should offer more tax breaks and a list of electricians who will do the work at reasonable prices.
Linda Shabsin, Diamond Bar
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To the editor: Once again, a government agency is wrong.
The latest environmental protection plan is to ban gas pool heaters. Actually? A rarely used gas pool heater is nothing in terms of harming our environment compared to the countless gasoline leaf blowers used every hour of the day in California.
I hear and smell unregulated gasoline leaf blowers from dawn to dusk. Have you ever heard of a smog control for a leaf blower? In contrast, I have yet to hear or smell a gas pool heater, not even once.
Rodney Kemerer, Beverly Hills
