Monday, November 22, 2010

The golden but dirty state of California

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California hasn't received the official designation as the dirtiest state in the union, but the fact that seven cities in California earned spots in the Top 10 Dirtiest Cities in America list, makes this more than a fair conclusion.

Forbes.com reported this ranking which was based on The American Lung Association's State Of The Air 2010 report on air quality. To evaluate air quality, levels of both ozone and particle pollution were measured.

For us who live in the Bay Area, we can breathe a bit easier to know that the San Francisco metropolitan area escaped the list. Our neighbors in the state who are the biggest air quality offenders shouldn't be of any surprise, as these areas have historically been known to be smog central. The dismal air that our fellow Californians are inhaling can be toxic, as Forbes points out:

The 20 million people in these cities are at higher risk of asthma and chronic bronchitis.

Our Southern California car congested counterpart, Los Angeles, took the #2 spot on the list with the dirtiest city in America prize going to Bakersfield. The San Joaquin Valley is where a good amount of the nation's produce is grown, but it is also home to six of the cities that made the list:

The biggest problem spot in the country is California's San Joaquin Valley, where farming, industry, car culture and topography collide to trap smog. Wildfires contribute to the problem. Severe particle pollution in valley burgs like Bakersfield (the center of California's oil industry and the metropolitan area with the worst air in the nation), Fresno (third place), Visalia (fourth) and Modesto (eighth) can damage the lungs in the same way cigarettes do. Sacramento (ninth) incentivizes residents to trade in gasoline lawn mowers for electric ones, diesel-powered trucks for hybrid ones and old wood stoves for new ones.

With Prop. 23 stopped at the ballot boxes earlier in the month, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is back on track to take effect in 2012, which may help clean up the air a bit around the state. Let's just hope that things don't get worse before they get better.
Where the dirtiest cities in America are

Forbes.com

Where the dirtiest cities in America are

Posted By: Jenny Pisillo (Email) | Nov 22 at 01:15 PM

Listed Under: Environment, National news, Suburbia