Mary Michal Rawling

Mary Michal Rawling, project manager for the Merced-Mariposa Asthma Coalition, encouraged the audience to be mindful that poor air quality can cause asthma in children.

"Yes, we're worse than L.A.," she said, pointing to a graph showing that the Valley suffers more bad air days for longer periods of time than Southern California's notoriously bad air.

Mary Michal Rawling, environmental specialist for the Merced-Mariposa Asthma Coalition, said it has been noticeably hotter since last weekend and she's not surprised by the Spare the Air designation.

"When it's 80 degrees at 8 a.m., that's pretty telling.Spare the Air is a really good program, and I'd like to see more people adhere to its suggestions," Rawling said.

She added that a steady stream of people surveyed by her organization believe poor air quality triggers their asthma.

The forum includes a panel discussion with Tom Jordan of the Valley Air Pollution Control District, Diana Pedrozo of the Merced County Farm Bureau and Mary Michal Rawling of the Merced-Mariposa Asthma Coalition.