Report: U.S. Air Pollution Worst in 25 Years as New Environmental Regulations Finalized
USA Today
By: Eduardo Cuevas
Americans are breathing more toxic air now than in the past quarter-century, a new report from the American Lung Association says.
The findings, released Wednesday, show the worst toxic particle pollution in the 25 years the ALA has released its annual “State of the Air” report. The spike in pollution, experts say, is likely the result of climate change, including an increase in wildfires. More than 131 million Americans live in areas that showed unhealthy levels of air pollution, the report showed.
“We're seeing the most days and the ‘very unhealthy’ or ‘hazardous’ air quality level due to spikes in particle pollution,” Paul Billings, ALA’s senior vice president of public policy, told USA TODAY. “Despite a lot of progress on air pollution cleanup, we're seeing the impacts of climate change, particularly wildfires, overwhelming a lot of cleanup, particularly with respect to these daily spikes of particle pollution.
