The San Joaquin Valley suffers some of the worst air pollution in the nation. It’s a problem compounded by a growing population in the region and climate change. According to a recent study by the Institute for Economic and Environmental Studies at Cal State Fullerton, the bad air is costing over three billion dollars a year in lost working days, school absences, respiratory illnesses and hospital admissions. The scope of the problem and some emerging solutions were discussed at a symposium on air quality and climate change sponsored by the UC San Francisco medical center in Fresno. Pacifica’s Vic Bedoian reports.