Finding Fresh Air
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University of the Pacific Research Team Seeks Solutions for Stockton’s Air Quality Inequities
A year-long project led by researchers from University of the Pacific is beginning to release its findings, which could prove to be consequential for the future of Stockton’s air quality, notoriously among the worst in the country.
Beginning in late 2025, Dr. Samrat Kunwar, an associate professor of economics at Pacific, in collaboration with Communication professor Dr. Qingwen Dong, began conducting a series of focus groups and surveys involving thousands of California residents in order to gauge public perception on potential carbon capture infrastructure. They proposed a variety of scenarios to participants to measure community prioritization on issues like job creation, oversight, and cost of living.
For Dong, the collaboration itself has been a highlight of the study. “Working across economics and communication brings different expertise and experience to the same questions,” he said. “That exchange has made the scientific investigation more rigorous and more exciting for everyone involved.”
The cross-disciplinary project found that residents prioritize health and clean air above all else, even when presented with potential economic benefits, like job creation. Most agreed that pollution in Stockton is inequitably distributed, placing lower-income communities at the highest risk of health issues, which may cost more in the long run.
Despite the presence of a first-of-its kind industrial carbon capture plant already operating in Tracy, CA, just southwest of Stockton, focus group participants demonstrated wariness towards the prospect of bringing a project of that kind to Stockton. They cited concerns with the safety of such an undertaking, specifically that the carbon stored underground may leak and contaminate precious groundwater. Survey participants, however, showed a firm split, with some demonstrating staunch support for the idea.
Kunwar, reflecting on the survey process, mentioned, “Two residents on the same street, breathing the same air, can land in completely different places depending on what they think about how burdens get handed out in this county.”
Focus group participants widely prioritized transparency from the funders and managers of the undertaking, regardless of project type, with many expressing doubts about the municipal government’s ability to oversee this infrastructure while prioritizing resident needs and interests. “What would make me feel safer is the level of transparency applied, the up to date update given to community, no hidden information to the community and complete honesty,” said a participant from the November 2025 focus group.
These findings in particular are critical, given that permits have been submitted for a proposed carbon capture facility at the Port of Stockton. As part of a 56.5 million-dollar grant series awarded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, Pelican Renewables LLC will lead the effort to develop a regional carbon dioxide storage hub just west of the city.
“The federal grant for the Pelican hub pays for an evaluation of social license to operate. We have the only local measurement of what that would take, and we collected it before the project had a name attached,” Kunwar said. “That baseline cannot be collected again.”
While there is still much work to be done in improving Stockton’s air quality, the research conducted by the team revealed some critical insights for the forward progress of this push for equitable air. The success of this infrastructure will not only be measured by its ability to pull excess carbon from the air, but by its foundation in the community it intends to benefit.