As public awareness of climate change grows, Amy Balkin's Public Smog project highlights the need to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Public Smog is a series of attempts to create a clean air park in the atmosphere. Actions to create the park have included purchasing and withholding emissions from regulated greenhouse gas markets in Southern California and in the European Union, and an attempt to submit the Earth's atmosphere for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Public Smog also offers an array of compelling images that expand the limited repertoire currently used to highlight the effects of climate change - for instance, striking images of skylines with silhouetted buildings and geometric white gaps suggesting clarity and possibility in an otherwise smoggy landscape. Other Public Smog images show serene skyscapes of blues overlaid with phrases such as 'public mog is no substitute for direct action' and 'public smog will save the earth'.
