In America in 2012, according to the American Lung Association (ALA), the good news is that the air in many parts of the country has gotten cleaner. Credit improvement to Clean Air Act standards. The not-so-good news, meanwhile, is that since the ALA released its first State of the Air report in 2000, in many places around the country polluted air at unhealthful levels persists and in some areas pollution has grown worse.
American Lung Association’s State of the Air report for 2012 bears this out.
In an April 25, 2012 press release, ALA President and CEO Charles D. Connor insisted “real and steady progress in cutting dangerous pollution from the air we breathe” was made, but he said also, “… America’s air quality standards are woefully outdated, and unhealthy levels of air pollution still exist across the nation, putting the health of millions of Americans at stake.”