Peter Greenwald ’79

You could say that smog helped Peter Greenwald ’79 become a lawyer. He grew up in Los Angeles, and felt the effects of poor air quality every time he ran around the playground.

"I’ve always been concerned about the environment," he says. "And I always wanted to do something that would be good for the world. I thought that the law would be a good way to get there."

So, at Santa Clara, Greenwald took a class with Professor Kenneth Manaster. The field of environmental law was fairly new at the time and there weren’t many courses focusing on it.

"Ken Manaster was very influential," Greenwald says. "He was working with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and I got a clerkship there."

That was his first exposure to air pollution law, and it left a big impression. After passing the bar, Greenwald got a job with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) in the Los Angeles area. He started as a staff attorney concentrating on enforcement, seeking civil penalties when companies violated pollution rules. He worked his way up to general counsel, and then went into private consulting so that he could help raise his two small children. About a year and a half ago, the South Coast AQMD asked him to come back to work on high profile issues.

"The most important thing I’m working on now is controlling pollution generated by goods movement from diesel polluters such as marine vessels, locomotives, and trucks," he says. "We’re trying to find ways, legal mechanisms, for them to control emissions from international and interstate shipping." The reason this work is so important, according to Greenwald, is that particulate pollution, which includes emissions from diesel vehicles, causes thousands of premature deaths every year in Southern California. "It’s an enormous problem," he says. "We feel a real sense of urgency trying to control it." Greenwald believes that the smog in Los Angeles has improved since he was a boy, but it’s still a significant issue that affects his life every day. "We try to do things at home in a way that reduces pollution," he says. "My wife even more than I. Everyone has to contribute to the solution."