KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The American Lung Association has released their annual “State of the Air” report for 2020, and many areas in Western Michigan have not fared well, according to the data.
The report tracks exposure to ozone and harmful particles in the air across the country, and data is available for each county.
“Michigan has made a lot of progress over the 21 years of our report, we’ve seen a steady decline,” Paul Billings of the Association said. “But about three years ago, we started to see things start to tick back up, and unfortunately this year, we’re seeing that more people in Michigan were exposed to more air pollution on more days, particularly ozone.”
For the Western Michigan area in particular, part of the reason for this uptick is due to outside sources.
“A lot of that is because Western Michigan is downwind from Chicago, so pollution that’s generated across the lake blows into Michigan, and unfortunately, you’re breathing the dirty air,” Billings said.
For ozone levels, Kalamazoo received a grade of “F,” as well as 13 total days of unsafe levels for sensitive populations.
Kalamazoo did pass the particle test with an “A” grade, but Billings says there were still unsafe levels recorded.
“The grades for particle pollution are better, but still too many days of people breathing dirty air,” Billings said.
Elsewhere in Western Michigan, other areas receiving poor grades include the city of Grand Rapids.
“The Grand Rapids area gets an ‘F’ for ozone, it’s the 36th most polluted city in the country for ozone, it was 38 last year,” Billings said.
Other grades recorded for Western Michigan counties include Berrien, Cass and Ottawa, all of which scored an “F” on ozone levels. Particle levels for these counties were not recorded.
Billings cites federal rollbacks on environmental laws as part of the reason for this uptick.
“Too often, we’re seeing the current EPA roll back the Clean Air Act rules, and it’s not doing a great job with enforcement,” Billings said. “More polluters are getting away with putting more pollution into the air.”
Billings also points to climate change as another factor into these rates.
“On hot days, we’re seeing elevated levels of ozone,” Billings said. “We have to enforce the clean air act. Individuals can do simple things like drive less and turn off that extra light.”
Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have been driving less. The Michigan Department of Transportation says driving rates are down around 60% compared to this time last year.
“Because people are driving less, we’re seeing lower emissions,” Billings said. “We strongly support and encourage people to follow the direction of state and local authorities to stay home, practice safe distancing, wash your hands. Reducing air pollution does appear to be occurring because people are driving less, but the real solution is to adopt technology, enforce the law, and move beyond this pandemic. Hopefully we can do that soon.”
The full State of the Air report can be viewed in full online at this link.
