(KPTV) – The Beaver State, despite being known for having residents who are passionate about climate change and the environment, has been found to contain some of the most polluted air in the entire country.
A new report shows that two out of the top 10 locations with the worst air quality are in Oregon.
Eugene was found to be in fourth place and the Grants Pass-Medford area came in at eighth place.
Bakersfield, California took the top spot as the US city with the most air pollution.
Just last month, Oregon environmental regulators discussed a push to drastically reduce greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel companies.
The state also adopted a statewide Climate Protection Plan in 2021, which was promised to be one of the strongest climate action plans in the country.
This new study, assembled by the American Lung Association, showed that there are 4,589 pediatric and 36,325 adult asthma cases in Eugene-Springfield which is home to 382,353 people.
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Eugene-Springfield was noted for having particularly high levels of pollution coming from car emissions, wood-burning stoves and diesel engines.
The San Francisco Bay Area ranked just under Eugene-Springfield in fifth place due to transportation emissions, wildfires, and industrial storm water runoff.
Los Angeles was listed next in sixth place due to burning of fossil fuels, especially by cars, ships, planes, manufacturing, and wildfires.
Medford earned the eighth spot, followed by Phoenix and Fairbanks, Alaska.
The study showed 4,277 pediatric and 28,473 adult asthma cases in the Medford-Grants Pass area out of a population of 309,374.
Data showed the US is responsible for 17 percent of total global greenhouse emissions.
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