WEBVTT

00:00.833 --> 00:02.033 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5%
They look
like scenes from a

00:02.033 --> 00:03.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
Twilight Zone episode.

00:06.533 --> 00:07.900 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5%
But these are photos from

00:07.900 --> 00:10.266 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
another midcentury
Hollywood production

00:10.266 --> 00:14.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
images staged by everyday people
to bring attention

00:14.266 --> 00:17.266 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
to a seriously scary
public health crisis.

00:17.666 --> 00:21.033 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
We often see this golden
sort of aura

00:21.033 --> 00:24.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
around Los Angeles in the 1940s.

00:26.066 --> 00:27.866 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
But it doesn't have
any real meaning

00:27.866 --> 00:30.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
if you have to wear a gas mask
to walk down the street.

00:32.900 --> 00:35.333 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
In the 1950s, air
pollution in L.A.

00:35.333 --> 00:37.366 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
was so bad that on some days,

00:37.366 --> 00:40.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
it looked like parts of the city
had disappeared.

00:40.900 --> 00:43.966 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
The Los Angeles
International Airport shut down

00:43.966 --> 00:45.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
because pilots couldn't

00:45.166 --> 00:48.166 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
see the runway
and it wasn't safe to fly.

00:48.766 --> 00:50.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
People wheezing, people

00:50.200 --> 00:53.700 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
not being able to see clearly,
to breathe clearly.

00:54.166 --> 00:56.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Kids were kept inside at recess

00:56.066 --> 00:59.166 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
because the acrid air
could burn your lungs.

00:59.166 --> 01:02.966 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
In October of 1954,
there's a streak of smog

01:02.966 --> 01:06.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
that's so bad that The New York
Times reports on it.

01:06.900 --> 01:09.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
People are up in arms about it.
Goes on for about two weeks.

01:10.300 --> 01:13.166 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5%
Angelenos
were absolutely sick of smog,

01:14.166 --> 01:17.166 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
So they decided
to do something about it.

01:17.433 --> 01:19.933 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
There was a crescendo
of public anger.

01:19.933 --> 01:23.600 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
And that crescendo erupted
at Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

01:24.800 --> 01:27.700 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55%
About 6000
people were in the audience,

01:27.700 --> 01:30.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
and they were frothing

01:30.566 --> 01:31.700 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5%
at the mouth.

01:32.233 --> 01:36.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Ladies and gentlemen, we have
met here tonight unitedly

01:36.666 --> 01:40.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
for one purpose in mind to get
some action!

01:40.366 --> 01:43.866 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5%
Smog. This is our only enemy!

01:44.100 --> 01:45.866 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5%
The good news
was that no one knew

01:45.866 --> 01:47.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
how to get the media's
attention

01:47.233 --> 01:49.933 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
like the residents of La
La Land.

01:49.933 --> 01:53.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
LIFE magazine ran a big article

01:53.466 --> 01:56.633 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55%
about smog
in the land of sunshine.

01:56.633 --> 02:00.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
And the ‘Optimists Club in Los
Angeles

02:00.566 --> 02:05.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
had a dinner where they donned
World War Two-style gas masks.

02:06.066 --> 02:08.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
They had a big banner
behind them saying:

02:08.433 --> 02:10.266 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
‘Why wait for 1955?

02:10.266 --> 02:13.233 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5%
We may not be alive.

02:13.233 --> 02:16.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
But that was just the beginning.
Because the constituency

02:16.400 --> 02:19.400 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
the city really couldn't
ignore...was moms.

02:20.300 --> 02:24.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
And in late 1958, they took
the smog crisis straight on.

02:24.000 --> 02:26.866 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
An organization was created,
one of the early grassroots

02:26.866 --> 02:30.000 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
environmental organizations
by a set of ladies

02:30.000 --> 02:31.033 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5%
in Beverly Hills.

02:31.033 --> 02:33.933 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
Their organization was called
S.O.S.:

02:33.933 --> 02:35.800 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5%
“Stamp Out Smog”.

02:36.333 --> 02:37.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
“We started with nine women...”

02:38.233 --> 02:38.933 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
And it was founded

02:39.133 --> 02:42.466 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55%
by a bunch
of unbelievably talented women

02:42.833 --> 02:47.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
who, because of the era, weren't
employed outside of the home,

02:47.433 --> 02:50.966 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
who took care of their kids
and who were enraged about smog.

02:51.600 --> 02:53.733 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
They were a force
no one expected...

02:53.733 --> 02:56.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
and they demanded to be reckoned
with.

02:56.266 --> 02:59.266 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
Margaret Levee's
husband was a movie producer.

02:59.833 --> 03:01.833 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
She also had a two-year-old
daughter that had really bad

03:02.033 --> 03:03.366 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
that had really bad asthma.

03:03.833 --> 03:06.266 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55%
The doctor
advised her to leave Los Angeles

03:06.266 --> 03:07.800 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75%
because of the air quality.

03:07.800 --> 03:11.466 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
And her response was to say,
‘no, this is crazy.

03:11.700 --> 03:12.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
I'm going to stay here,
 I'm going to fight

03:12.966 --> 03:14.900 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
and I'm going to do something
about it.

03:14.900 --> 03:18.000 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
The women of S.O.S. had high
powered Hollywood connections,

03:18.000 --> 03:21.000 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
and they understood
the power of the media.

03:22.600 --> 03:24.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
They brought their kids
frequently to meetings

03:24.600 --> 03:26.233 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
wearing gas masks.

03:26.233 --> 03:29.466 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
They became a political force
that put more pressure

03:29.833 --> 03:33.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
on politicians to do something
about the problem of smog.

03:33.333 --> 03:35.366 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5%
Social media
didn't exist that time,

03:35.366 --> 03:37.433 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
but they were able to use
phone trees.

03:37.433 --> 03:40.733 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
They were able to use letter
writing campaigns to reach out

03:40.733 --> 03:43.733 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
to politicians to say
we have to do something.

03:44.566 --> 03:47.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
They joined forces with
something like

03:47.566 --> 03:49.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
400plus organizations.

03:49.700 --> 03:51.333 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55%
They gained
so much expertise

03:51.333 --> 03:52.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
that they actually had

03:52.400 --> 03:55.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
credibility to comment
about things like technologies

03:55.966 --> 03:58.966 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
that could actually help
address the smog problem.

04:02.400 --> 04:04.433 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65%
Stamp Out Smog was

04:04.433 --> 04:08.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
channeling the anger of citizens

04:08.066 --> 04:10.866 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5%
against what they
 were experiencing.

04:11.166 --> 04:13.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Because of the awareness S.O.S.

04:13.200 --> 04:15.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
created, the government
was forced to take action.

04:15.966 --> 04:18.366 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65%
California became
the first state in the U.S.

04:18.366 --> 04:21.366 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
to implement a statewide
pollution control act.

04:21.366 --> 04:23.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And S.O.S. mom Margaret
Levee helped develop

04:23.733 --> 04:26.466 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5%
the nation's earliest
vehicle emission standards.

04:26.466 --> 04:28.766 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55%
And that's
why today's L.A. has cleaner air

04:28.766 --> 04:31.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Because this determined
group of women fought for it.

04:32.500 --> 04:35.800 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75%
There's still a lot of work
we need to do to clean up ozone.

04:36.000 --> 04:38.733 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
Los Angeles continues to have
a big air pollution problem,

04:38.733 --> 04:40.300 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5%
but it's really important
to stress

04:40.300 --> 04:43.666 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5%
that it's orders of magnitude
better than what it was.

04:43.666 --> 04:44.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
Los Angeles has

04:44.766 --> 04:48.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
not had a smog alert since 2003,
which just tells you

04:48.866 --> 04:50.766 align:left position:12.5% line:71% size:77.5%
everything you want to know.

04:50.766 --> 04:53.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
For more on the decades
long fight to rid L.A.

04:53.333 --> 04:56.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
of smog, check out Clearing the
Air from American Experience.