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A report card released by UCLA’s Institute of the Environment gave Southern California’s control of “smart growth” and marine conservation efforts B-minuses. However, the same report indicated that the region is doing poorly in the areas of air quality and controlling invasive plant species, which received a C- and a D, respectively.

The sixth Southern California Environmental Report Card, which focuses on four specific environmental issues each year, was released Wednesday.

“It’s part of the mission of the Institute of the Environment to reach out to the community and provide the kind of expertise ... that can help people to better understand (these issues) and help policy makers to respond to them more effectively,” said IoE Director Richard Turco.

One of the four environmental aspects studied this year was “smart growth,” which deals with minimizing the harmful effects of population growth on the environment by focusing on automobile dependency, land use and city development.

“I think that it’s unlikely that the population growth is going to slow. Projections show that we will continue to grow at a substantial rate,” said Arthur Winer, a professor of environmental health and editor of the report card.

The population growth has raised questions about Southern California’s ability to provide adequate transportation and housing. It has also put pressure on the region’s ecosystems and has contributed to water and air quality problems, Winer said.

Until 1998, Southern California’s air quality had been improving for several decades. However, the area still has the worst ozone pollution in the nation. The report card indicates there is a danger of air pollution increasing, rather than decreasing, in the future.

Southern California’s control of invasive plant species is also not up to par. Plant species that are not native to California are accidentally introduced to the area and create environmental problems, such as the loss of water supplies and important plant species that are native to the region.

Marine conservation has had better success in Southern California, especially due to successful campaigns to save certain ocean species – like the whale and the golden trout, California’s state fish – and two new laws created to aid the marine environment.

“(This is important) because we depend upon (ocean life) for the health of the entire global ecosystem – we depend upon it for food, it is important for tourism, and it has great spiritual value,” said Gregor Hodgen, a visiting professor at the IoE’s Coastal Center.

These environmental issues, however, are oftentimes overshadowed by other pressing social problems such as traffic, the cost of housing, and unemployment.

“These are all interlocking problems that need to be studied simultaneously and consistently through a multi-disciplinary approach, and that’s what we’re doing,” Turco said.

Winer said that improvement in environmental issues is slow because many of the problems deal with the carrying capacity of the region, which refers to the population an area can support.

“The issue then is looking for new technological solutions and socioeconomic approaches – new policies – that can accommodate the growth that’s projected to occur, yet still remediate our more serious environmental problems,” Winer said.

The IoE also focuses on educating students about these issues, which is manifested in courses offered at UCLA and a new minor.

“We feel that education and knowledge about the environment is going to be absolutely critical to the next generation in developing the society of the future,” Turco said.