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14. Metropolitan Los Angeles, extending to Riverside and Long Beach, remains the...
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14. Metropolitan Los Angeles, extending to Riverside and Long Beach, remains the smoggiest city in the United States, with an average of more than 140 days a year of dangerous ozone, the American Lung Assn. reported Wednesday in its annual assessment. All of the nation’s 10 smoggiest counties are in California, with San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, Tulare and Los Angeles leading the pack. And the state’s cities and counties, with their ports, refineries, power plants and crowded freeways, rank near the top for particle pollution. The report comes at a time of conflict over the state’s efforts to slash emissions. Citing the recession –battered economy, trucking and construction firms are seeking to delay California’s rules to limit diesel pollution from operating big-rigs, forklifts and other equipment. A proposed ballot initiative, sponsored by oil companies and conservative activists would suspend the state’s climate law, which targets carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases but could effectively curb traditional air pollutants such as ozone and particles. The ballot initiative to delay AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, is spearheaded by San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., which operate major refineries and hundreds of gas stations in California. Despite its grim overall statistics, the report took note of remarkable progress in some areas: The number of high-ozone days has dropped by 25% in metropolitan Los Angeles and by 57% in metropolitan San Francisco, which includes Oakland and San Jose, since 2000. The report found that high air pollution levels threaten the health of 175 million people, about 58% of the population. But in California, the proportion is far higher: 91% of state residents, more than 33 million people, live in counties with poor air quality, especially in Southern California and the Central Valley. According to the article, oil and construction companies are...
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