At least we don't breath (cough) the air of LA or (cough) Pittsburgh

by: Clem Guttata

Tue May 01, 2007 at 20:43:05 PM EDT

The American Lung Association has released its annual State of the Air report. The two worst metropolitan areas in the country: Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

Here in West Virginia, there's no end to the natural beauty. It's a pretty low population density, too. It's a generally rural state. Somehow, we've still got some surprisingly bad air pollution issues.

Details below the break.

#15 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
#20 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV
#23 Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
#24 Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV

At the County level, we've got 3 of the 25 Counties Most Polluted by Long-Term Particle Pollution

#22 BROOKE WV
#24 HANCOCK WV
#24 KANAWHA WV

BERKELEY County also gets a failing grade for particle pollution.

What can we do?

Here's one way to take action.

Help Make a Difference in the Air you Breathe
Tell EPA to set air pollution standards that protect health.  This spring, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a change to the national air quality standards for ozone pollution. These standards set the official limits on how much ozone pollution can be in a community and require clean up to meet these standards.  Tell EPA to strengthen the ozone standard.