A new report by the American Lung Association gave California’s Bay Area failing grades in a number of critical air quality metrics, raising alarms for residents who may face elevated risks of heart disease, respiratory problems and even premature death due to air pollution.
The report referred to the air in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metro area as one of the worst in the United States. The region also placed in the top 25 in a ranking of the worst areas for ozone pollution and short-term particle pollution, which is heavily influenced by wildfire smoke.
The findings come as ozone pollution across large portions of the U.S. has worsened during the past two years after a stretch of successful reductions. The Trump administration’s sweeping rollbacks of clean emissions standards and environmental guidelines are a major contributing factor…