PROVIDENCE – Three Rhode Island counties have maintained their mostly good air quality from a year ago, according to the American Lung Association.
The association on Wednesday released its annual State of the Air report, which tracks air quality in more than 200 major metropolitan areas across the U.S. and any unhealthy exposure to ozone air and particle pollution over a three-year period. This year’s report analyzed the period between 2020 and 2022.
The report notes that both Providence and Kent counties once again received a “C” grade for ozone pollution. Last year was the first time that Providence County in the association’s history of publishing its annual State of the Air report received a passing grade for air quality.
Washington County, unfortunately, once again received a “D” grade for ozone pollution. But the county did receive an “A” grade from the association for short-term particle pollution, while Providence and Kent counties each received “B” grades.
Newport and Bristol counties were not referenced in the report. Association spokesperson Jennifer Solomon told Providence Business News those counties are “relatively small” by population and “they’re apparently small enough in their surrounding context that some monitoring isn’t required.”
However, the association did not find the local metro area in complete good standing with its air quality. The association in the report noted that the Boston-Worcester-Providence metro area was ranked the 48th worst and 90th worst in the U.S. for ground-level ozone pollution and year-round average levels of particle pollution, respectively. Both marks, the association said, are worse than from a year ago.
Additionally, the association’s report says more than 131 million people live in areas that received failing grades in at least one air pollution measure. Of that, 43.9 million people live in areas with failing grades in all three pollution measures, the association said.
“The Providence metro area still has work to do,” American Lung Association Director of Advocacy Daniel Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up. So there are actions we can and must take to improve air quality.”
Fitzgerald also said for the state to meet its 2021 Act on Climate, it must continue to move forward on implementing climate-friendly measures, such as Advanced Clean Cars II and Advanced Clean Trucks rules, and calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set long-overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution.
The full report
can be read here.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
