Maybe after years of letting business pollute at will, Washington will show some interest in improving air quality. Polluted may be fine for the balance sheets of big business but there's a health cost for everyone else.
Overall, the report found that air pollution at times reaches unhealthy levels in almost every major city and that 186.1 million people live in those areas. The number is much higher than last year's figure of about 125 million people because recent changes to the federal ozone standard mean more counties recognize unhealthy levels of pollution.
Health effects from air pollution include changes in lung function, coughing, heart attacks, lung cancer and premature death.
"Six out of 10 Americans right now as we speak live in areas where the air can be dirty enough to send people to the emergency room, dirty enough to shape how kids' lungs develop and even dirty enough to kill," said Janice E. Nolen, the association's assistant vice president on national policy and advocacy.
