Oregon Air Pollution: The Air May Not Be Perfect But it's Better Than California

If you're in Oregon, go outside and take a deep breath.

And be thankful you are not in California.

The American Lung Association is out with their annual State of the Air report and the news for Oregon is that while things could be better, the air is generally much cleaner than it is to the south.

All three of the counties in the metro region - Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington - received passing grades when it came to High Ozone Days and Particle Pollution.

When it came to High Ozone Days, all three counties received a "b."

When it came to particle pollution, Multnomah received a "c" and Washington received a "d." Both are considering passing.

There was no data on particle pollution collected for Clackamas County but that is not their fault.

Most counties around the country do not have monitors. It's a decision made by the state and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Fewer than 1,000 of the 3,068 counties in the United Staes have monitors.

And while Oregon's air could use improvement, it is substantially better here than in California where millions of people live with dirty air.

By several benchmarks, up to five or more California cities can be found on lists of the ten most polluted cities in the country.

You can read the press release here. It has links to state by state reports.