The golden but dirty state of California

[XemaSab]

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.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=77563#ixzz1665eGWIJ

Oh, Bay Area... so self-congratulatory, and totally ignoring the fact that air coming through the Golden Gate pushes their smog into the Valley.

[happyslug]

1. And the Smokey City is #10

What is the world coming to!! Pittsburgh is cleaner then the California.

Pittsburgh data from the report:
Population: 2.4 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 3
Year-round particle pollution rank: 5

http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/15/americas-dirtiest-cities-business-energy-dirty-cities_slide_2.html

#1 is Bakersfield:
No. 1: Bakersfield, Calif.

Population: 800,000
Short-term particle pollution rank: 1
Year-round particle pollution rank: 2
Ozone pollution rank: 2
Hot, dusty and surrounded by California's San Joaquin Valley oil fields, Bakersfield has all the ingredients for the worst air in the nation.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/15/americas-dirtiest-cities-business-energy-dirty-cities_slide_11.html

GASP (Group against Smog and Pollution, founded in 1969) is going to be proud of this report (and still mad that Pittsburgh is NOT trying even harder to clean up its air).
http://www.gasp-pgh.org/

[wtmusic]

2. A lot of cities escaped the list because the wind blows their dirt away.

If NYC was in a basin would it be any cleaner than L.A.?

[StarsInHerHair]

3. kinda explains all those nasal strips now available everywhere

depressing. Too bad all Calif state cars aren't electric-except where it snows. Bullet-trains would reduce some of that bad air. the jobs it would create.

I think a big sector of new jobs in the 21st century will be cleaning up toxic materials.