
13 California counties get 'F' in new clean air report
Click play to listen to this article.
California has some of the dirtiest air in the nation, according to the American Lung Association's new State of the Air report.
Researchers looked at ozone pollution and both short and long-term particle pollution. Thirteen counties got an "F" grade in all three categories. Pollution in the counties mainly came from vehicle emissions and smoke from wildfires.
Laura Kate Bender, assistant vice president of nationwide healthy air for the American Lung Association, said climate change is contributing to the counties' poor air quality.

"Those conditions are being made worse by changing temperatures," Bender pointed out. "Climate change means more extreme heat, and more extreme heat can lead to more ozone pollution, and those are both results that show up in this year's report."
Five of the seven counties with the most yearly air pollution in the nation are in California. The three most polluting counties are in the Central Valley, with Los Angeles County and the Bay Area not far behind. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to rescind the federal waivers allowing California to set strict emissions standards for vehicles, arguing the rules hurt consumers and the trucking industry.
The report also found 46 percent of Americans live in places getting failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. Bender stressed more Americans live in polluted areas now than any time within the last 10 years.
"After decades of progress to clean up the air from policies under the Clean Air Act, we're now starting to see an uptick in pollution levels once again, and it shows that we really need to double down on protections that are limiting emissions from vehicles, not roll them back."
The House infrastructure committee is also considering highway funding fees to charge people who drive an electric car more than those who own a gas-powered vehicle.