May 14, 2001

11:45 AM

Ever wonder how much effect the clean air act and emission limits on cars are having on the air we breathe? The the State of the Air 2001 report sponsored by the American Lung Association is for you. An assessment of pollution thorughout the US. Of course my county received an 'F' in this assesment. How is the air where you live?
posted by trox (9 comments total)

I used to live in Berrien, the 'worst' county in Michigan (in terms of high ozone days. Due to Gary, IN et al?). Now I live in Ingham, which still gets an F.

Current air quality info from the EPA.
posted by iceberg273 at 12:03 PM on May 14, 2001

Of course, in Michigan, *every* county rated gets an F with two exceptions. I've lived in other places which didn't seem appreciably different to me but that get A's and B's. So I'm not inclined to think much of their rating scale. (Hey, Iceberg, come down to Ann Arbor sometime--if you can stand the air here.)
posted by rodii at 12:17 PM on May 14, 2001

Interesting that in Oregon, they didn't measure the two counties with most of the traffic... Multnomah County (Basically, the city of Portland...) and Washington County, where Intel and all the techs are based.
posted by SpecialK at 12:42 PM on May 14, 2001

Gee, Seattle gets a D. I thought most of that stuff generally blew out to sea, where "it's not our problem any more!" Personally, I think that's almost entirely due to my neighborhood, whose patchouli-and-pot-smoke emissions are staggering.
posted by Skot at 1:34 PM on May 14, 2001

San Francisco gets an A, but that probably has more to do with the on- and off-shore breezes and geography of the region than it does with the use of public transport in the city.
posted by mathowie at 2:18 PM on May 14, 2001

All of the counties in Pennsylvania with more people than cattle got an "F." Quel surprise. We've already had our first "ozone action day" here, with many more anticipated over the summer.
posted by Dreama at 2:35 PM on May 14, 2001

Somehow I don't think a test is very good if everyone fails.
posted by dagnyscott at 7:05 AM on May 15, 2001

I'm not sure I'd really want this particular test to be graded on a curve.
posted by trox at 7:31 AM on May 15, 2001

yes, trox, but if there's no way to distinguish between where I live (where the air is still fairly clean, despite the failing grade) and LA or Gary, you have a slight problem. it's like, there are a handful of counties that are ok, and if not, you all fail, even though there's a huge range in terms of air quality among counties that are all given the same (failing) grade
posted by dagnyscott at 1:03 PM on May 15, 2001