The Lung Association brought forward astonishing statistics this week — that in the world’s richest country, more than 186 million people live and work in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution. In fact. the air quality results in 2008* were much worse than 2007, according to the advocacy group’s State of the Air report.
“Despite almost 40 years since the Clean Air Act passed in 1970, six in 10 Americans still live in dirty air areas, areas where the air is unhealthful to breathe,” says the Lung Association’s Paul Billings.
Los Angeles has the country’s worst ozone — or smog — pollution, a dubious distinction it has held for years. Bakersfield, CA, has the worst year-round particle pollution, and Pittsburgh finished last in the short-term particle pollution category. Some major cities, including LA, NY, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Washington, have managed to improve air quality over the last decade, but it turns out that 2008 was bad news just about everywhere, with declining standards. Last year’s figures showed that 125 million people were living with dangerous pollution levels.
The State of the Air report also noted that the nation’s biggest polluters are also the biggest contributors to global warming, and recommends that a resurgent EPA under Lisa Jackson kill two birds with one stone.
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Read more about this frightening story at Reuters. If you search on Google News, you’ll also find news reports from individual states and cities. Finally, the State of the Air is available for download.
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*George Bush: The gift that keeps on giving. Former President Bush kneecapped the EPA and the weakened the Clean Air Act repeatedly during his time in office; I’ve read dozens of stories about it in my day job, including this series about US Schools at USA Today.
Jackson and the EPA have already acted on this report.