Audio By Carbonatix
Arizona has a relatively high number of people dissatisfied with the state’s air quality.
In the latest Gallup poll, 77 percent of Arizonans say they are satisfied with the air quality, but that’s one of the lowest levels of satisfaction in the country.
See also:
–Alternative fuels aren’t solving Phoenix’s air-pollution problem
Only Utah, Nevada, California, and Delaware residents gave a worse review of the air quality in their state, with Utah having the lowest satisfaction level, at 65 percent.
Many states have satisfaction levels higher than 90 percent, with both the Dakotas scoring the highest, at 96 percent satisfaction.
Arizonans’ concerns aren’t exactly unwarranted. There’s currently an “ozone health watch” for Maricopa County for tomorrow:
Ground level ozone is formed by a chemical reaction that needs heat from sunlight, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds [VOCs] to form. The months of April through September make up our Valley’s longer-than-normal “ozone season.”
There’s also the dust issue. You may have read recently that Arizona lasted more than 40 years without reaching “attainment” status with the Environmental Protection Agency on the Clean Air Act.
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