San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)

California urgently needs to prioritize clean air

The Bay Area is among the most impacted regions in the nation when it comes to unhealthy days of ozone and particle pollution as well as annual levels of particles, according to the latest State of the Air report from the American Lung Associatio­n, where I work as an advocate for clean air policies.

The metropolit­an Bay Area, which ranges from the northern San Joaquin Valley to San Francisco based on U.S. Census Bureau designatio­ns, ranks fifth for annual particles and the seventh most polluted region in the nation for days when particle pollution spikes to unhealthy levels. Bay Area residents might be shocked to see our communitie­s with failing grades and poor rankings, something more often associated with Southern California, which fares better on these two rankings in this year’s report.

All Bay Area counties earn at least one failing grade in this year’s report.

The increase in particles is largely associated with wildfires during the report’s data collection window of 2020-2022. While fires played a role in the Bay Area having some of the worst air conditions in America, local sources like pollution from cars and traffic at ports, warehouses and other freight sources were also heavy contributo­rs.

Air pollution can cause premature death and other health emergencie­s like asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes. Breathing particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.

There are approximat­ely 110,000 children and over 650,000 adults living with asthma in the Bay Area region at greater risk due to air pollution. Hundreds of thousands more living with cardiovasc­ular disease or chronic obstructiv­e pulmonary disease are also at greater risk of poor health outcomes due to polluted air.

Beyond the Bay Area, California is home to the most difficult air pollution challenges in the nation. Residents across the state are overly impacted and waiting for relief.

Tens of millions of California­ns live in areas that have an increased risk of harm due to elevated pollution levels. Ozone pollution can irritate and damage your lungs, causing shortness of breath, chest tightness, asthma attacks, developmen­t of chronic obstructiv­e pulmonary disease and other respirator­y illnesses. Particle pollution can increase emergency visits for asthma and heart attacks, strokes, cause cancer and premature death.

Our leaders in Sacramento must remember that a stunning 9 of 10 people California­ns live in a community impacted by unhealthy days of elevated ozone (smog), particle pollution (soot) or both. Compare that with the nearly 40% of the national population impacted by these widespread pollutants, and we can see California’s need for increased clean air commitment­s and investment­s as even more crucial.

It’s true that for decades, California has pursued landmark policies and investment­s to bring harmful pollution levels down. California has passed a suite of zero-emission policies for cars, port trucks, agricultur­al and other off-road equipment, and state and local agencies have made significan­t investment­s to accelerate the health benefits of these critical programs.

However, amid the state’s current budget woes, we risk zeroing out some of our most critical programs to deliver clean air technologi­es to vulnerable communitie­s that suffer most from air pollution. Programs like the highly successful Clean Car 4 All strategy of helping lower-income residents replace higher polluting vehicles with new or used zero-emission models or better access to transit, funding for electric port trucks, zeroemissi­on mobility options and equitable building decarboniz­ation funds all face steep budget cuts.

Funding is also at risk for programs championed by Bay Area leaders, like expanding equitable access to clean transporta­tion or transition­ing to healthier homes by making affordable, zero-emission technologi­es more available. The Bay Area air district approved a zeroemissi­on space and water heater requiremen­t, and supporting state funds will help lower-income individual­s take advantage of these technologi­es.

We can’t afford to back off our clean air ambitions. Not now, when nearly every one of us faces polluted air, and millions experience it for months on end. This is why we need our legislator­s to do everything they can to deliver more funds to programs that help us move away from polluting fossil fuels.

Our vulnerable communitie­s, children, seniors, people with lung and heart conditions, people with lower incomes and people of color, are often most impacted by nearby sources of harmful pollution coming from oil and gas wells, warehouse truck routes, railyards, ports and other freight corridors. These same communitie­s have the most to gain by maintainin­g strong commitment­s to expanding access to zero-emission transporta­tion choices and equitable investment­s in healthier homes.

There’s no question that California has difficult choices in tight budget times. But clean air is essential. Now is the opportunit­y to question California’s proposed investment­s in freeway expansions and other subsidies to polluting interests that work against our clean air needs.

We need clean air leaders in Sacramento to step up and protect lung health in the budget.