Inland Empire residents support tougher smog rules, despite costs

Inland Empire residents support tougher smog rules, despite costs Residents of the Inland Empire, the warehouse destination for thousands of trucks a day from Southern California ports, would support tighter vehicle emission standards even if it meant higher consumer prices.
   The numbers come from an annual 'quality of life' academic survey of region residents released Wednesday. The 2007 Inland Empire Annual Survey, conducted last October by the Inland Empire Research Consortium at California State University San Bernardino and University of California, Riverside, sampled 1,352 randomly selected people.
   This was the first time in the 10 years the consortium has conducted the poll that questions about air quality were included.
   Three-quarters of those polled said the government was not doing enough to cut air pollution, and 78 percent said they would support fees on goods movement in Southern California.
   Nearly 80 percent of the respondents said they would support tougher emission standards for passenger vehicles, even if it meant paying more for the vehicle.