5-county greater Los Angeles area ranks as nation’s worst for smog, again

The five-county Los Angeles region ranks as the nation’s smoggiest metro area for the 19th time in the 20 years, according to the annual analysis by the American Lung Association released Tuesday.

While air quality has improved dramatically nationwide and locally over the past 50 years, this year’s report — which covers 2015 to 2017 — shows it deteriorating from the group’s three-year assessment last year. Climate change and wildfires are cited as key causes for the downturn.

On the county-by-county tally, San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles rank No. 1, 2 and 3 nationwide for having the worst smog — also known as ozone pollution — according to the State of the Air report. Orange County, which also received a failing grade, tied for 25th worst among the nation’s 3,007 counties.

The report also detailed efforts by the Trump Administration to undo air-pollution regulations and clean-air initiatives.

Climate change has a negative effect on air quality because it increases the possibility of wildfires — California was particularly hard hit by blazes in 2017 — and warmer temperatures increase the likelihood of smog.

“The three years covered in this report ranked as the hottest years on record globally,” according to this year’s report, which analyzes ogovernment data. “High ozone days and spikes in particle pollution zoomed, putting millions more people at risk and adding challenges to the work cities are doing across the nation to clean up. …

“As climate change continues, cleaning up these pollutants will become even more challenging.”

While the state has the nation’s strictest motor-vehicle emissions regulations and is a leader in initiatives encouraging zero-emissions vehicles, the volume of cars, trucks and buses  — particularly in Southern California — is a primary reason California counties continues to rank as the country’s smoggiest. Twenty of the nation’s 26 smoggiest counties are in California. And nine out of 10 Californians live in areas with unhealthy air, the 167-page report found.

Air pollution causes and exacerbates lung diseases, including asthma.

“California has made tremendous strides in improving the air we breathe but more must be done,” according to the American Lung Association.

Beside have the worst record for ozone pollution, San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties rank among the nation’s worst 25 counties for single-day soot — or particle — pollution, and for worst annual soot pollution.

Trump and clean air

The American Lung Association report expresses alarm over a number of Trump Administration proposals that it says reverse momentum to clean the air.

“Unfortunately, this Administration has focused on steps to roll back or create loopholes in core healthy air protections put in place to comply with the Clean Air Act,” said Janice Nolan of the American Lung Association in a Tuesday press teleconference.

In some of these cases, Administration officials have characterized the proposals as an effort to reduce over-restrictive regulations.

Among the American Lung Association’s concerns:

• Carbon pollution from power plants. While there is scientific consensus that carbon pollution contributes to climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency recently “has taken steps to dismantle our nation’s best federal plan to limit carbon from power plants, the Clean Power Plan,” the report says
• Emissions from oil and gas wells, processing plants, pipelines and storage units. Recent State of the Air reports have noted elevated levels of ozone where oil and gas production has expanded. “Despite this, in 2018, EPA proposed steps to weaken or roll back health-protective standards … to reduce harmful emissions of these gases from new and modified sources.”
•  Car pollution. The EPA and Department of Transportation have proposed rules that would “weaken limits on greenhouse gas emission from cars” and roll back fuel-economy standards for model year 2021-2025 vehicles. The effort could also eliminate California’s ability to set tougher vehicle emissions standards than the federal government.
• Clean-air funding. “The proposed budget for FY 2020 claims that a priority goal is to ‘improve air quality’ but would cut EPA funding for that work substantially,” the report says.
• Denying scientific evidence. The report says the administration is “stacking the deck to deny the scientific evidence.” It has “taken steps to remove independent science advisors from key advisory committees … and replace them with people paid by polluting industries. … The EPA has also signaled that the agency will restrict what research it will allow its scientists to consider.”

Life-threatening smog

Pediatrician and allergy specialist Sonal Patel told an anecdote about an 8-year-old girl walking with her father for 15 minutes from her South Los Angeles school to the doctor’s office on a smoggy day a few years ago. By the time she arrived, the girl was wheezing heavily, although her father said she’d been fine when they left the school.

“This 15-minute walk caused her to have an asthma attack,” Patel said during the American Lung Association press teleconference, one of three similar examples she offered. “Just breathing the air caused her to have an asthma attack.”

Ozone — resulting from the gases that come out of tailpipes and smokestacks — poses problems especially for those teen-aged and younger, those over 65, and those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease. It can cause a variety lung problems and can lead to premature death, according to the American Lung Association.

Particle pollution — the air-borne solids and liquids that come from truck exhaust and coal-burning plants — particularly affects people who are vulnerable to excessive ozone as well as others with diabetes and people who work and play outside. Low-income people are disproportionately affected, according to the report.

Even short-term exposure to particle pollution can cause respiratory and heart problems — and contribute to premature death. Exposure to unhealthy levels also results in increased mortality among infants and young children, the report says.

What you can do

In terms of personal behavior, the report suggests finding alternatives to driving alone, turning out lights when you don’t need them, using energy-efficient appliances and not burning firewood or trash.

In terms of policy, the report calls on people who are concerned about the issue to write and call school officials to use “clean” buses. Additionally, it suggests writing Congress members and the White House to encourage them “to adopt science-based solutions to reduce emissions that are causing climate change” to support and expand existing clean-air regulations and initiatives.