Sammy Roth, the energy and environment reporter with the Los Angeles Times, has come under fire this week after blaming white drivers for "polluting the air" breathed by black and Latino citizens in southern California.
For his piece in the Times, Roth was citing a study that characterized the city's freeway planning as "racially motivated," since it involved white people from the L.A. suburbs allegedly driving through traditionally black neighborhoods on their way to work.
Roth also referred to a University of Southern California study — "Local Inequities in the Relative Production of and Exposure to Vehicular Air Pollution in Los Angeles" — which found that Los Angeles residents "who drive more tend to be exposed to less air pollution."
Consequently, Roth asserted that "Angelenos who drive less tend to be exposed to more pollution."
USC professor Geoff Boeing "told me it largely comes down to the shameful history of Los Angeles County's low-income communities of color being torn apart to make way for freeways — a history that has been extensively documented by The Times," wrote Roth.
The Times writer continued: "Today, many residents of the county's whiter, more affluent neighborhoods — who were often able to keep highways out of their own backyards — commute to work through lower-income Black and Latino neighborhoods bisected by the 10, 110 and 105 freeways and more."
Roth's piece has been panned by numerous conservative media outlets; and Twitter initially slapped an inaccuracy warning on Roth's post, before later deleting the warning.
"This claim is false," said Twitter in its original assessment. "This assumption is based on research that those who drive tend to be exposed to less air pollution while those who drive less tend to be exposed to more pollution."
Among the public criticisms of Roth's piece:
Nick Short, communications director for the Claremont Institute, tweeted out: "Congratulations to the author of this piece @Sammy_Roth. You have managed to write not only the most idiotic but racist piece of 2023!"
And conservative TV anchor Jesse Kelly added: "REMINDER: There aren't separate communist groups. They're all the same group with the same goal: Destroying this nation. That's why seemingly separate groups work together. The climate nutters work with the race hustlers who work with the LGBTQ demon mob who work with ..."
The U.S. ranks as the 90th most-polluted country in the world, according to a 2021 study by IQAir. Bangladesh, Chad, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and India made up the top five.
According to Lung.org, Los Angeles ranks as America's most polluted city, when factoring in ozone pollution.
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