Hollywood is creating a film of a different kind over Greater Los
Angeles: smog, soot and greenhouse gases, according to a UCLA report due
out today. The report found that the film and television industry emits
a whopping 140,000 tons a year of ozone and diesel particulate pollutant
emissions from trucks, generators, special effects earthquakes and
fires, demolition of sets with dynamite and other sources.
"Given the importance of the movie and TV industry in Southern
California, we thought this was something the public should know," said
Mary Nichols, head of the UCLA Institute of the Environment. Nichols, a
law professor and past secretary of the California Resources Agency,
said researchers found that although individual productions and studios
are taking steps to minimize environmental damage, the industry's
"structure and culture hamper the pace of improvements."
The report noted, for instance, that dozens of contractors with
different practices work on a single set, making it tough to regulate.
Industry representatives reached late Monday said they had not seen the
report, but said they were concerned about environmentally sound practices.
"Without having seen the report, it's very hard to respond to any
specifics. This is an issue the film industry cares about, and many of
our studios have individual programs aimed at recycling, preventing air
pollution and conserving natural resources," said Kori Bernards,
spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Assn. of America, based in Encino.
Bernards said the association and the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers found in 2006 that their members had successfully
kept 64% of studio sets and other industry waste out of landfills.
"We ll keep doing our part to make the environment pristine," she said.
The industry tops hotels, aerospace, and apparel and semiconductor
manufacturing in traditional air pollutant emissions in Southern
California, according to the study, initially prepared for the
Integrated Waste Management Board, and is probably second only to
petroleum refineries, for which comparable data were not available. The
entertainment industry ranks third in greenhouse gas emissions.
State air regulators and some who work with the industry said that
diesel engines and fuels are already heavily regulated, and that permits
are required for dust control on specific projects.
Still, "we re always looking at new research. It s certainly something
we re not going to ignore," said spokeswoman Gennet Paauwe of the
California Air Resources Board, the state's lead air quality regulator.
She said the agency works with other industries, imposing voluntary
practices as well as traditional laws.
Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic
Development Corp., cautioned against additional regulation, saying it
could drive movie and TV production elsewhere.
"There would be a risk because you have other states out there quite
anxious to get a piece of the film industry," he said. "This would just
be another nudge … if they impose some strict air quality regulations."
The entertainment industry generates a combined $29 billion in revenue
and employs 252,000 people in the Greater Los Angeles region, Kyser
said.
But he said that industrywide, better voluntary practices were a must
for everything, including so-called star wagon trailers, remote set
generators and caterers baking bread for huge casts.
"I think if you talk to the industry, they would be willing to make some
moves to clean up," Kyser said.
"This is an industry that is very, very environmentally conscious. This
is just something they may not really be aware of."
(Por Janet Wilson,
Los Angeles Times, 14/11/2006)