“Letting our air get this bad is a total failure and I refuse to let my daughter grow up breathing worse air than I did.”
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Josh Harder responded to San Joaquin County receiving an ‘F’ grade in the American Lung Association’s new 2022 State of the Air report. The report gave the county an ‘F’ for Ozone, an ‘F’ for particle pollution in a 24-hour period, and a failing grade for particle pollution annually. The report also indicates that 13,971 kids and 52,942 adults in San Joaquin county are at risk of developing asthma. This issue is personal to Rep. Harder, who along with his brother suffered childhood asthma growing up in the Central Valley.
“I grew up with childhood asthma and know what’s it’s like to worry more about your inhaler than your homework. It’s unacceptable to know that something I suffered from as a kid has gotten worse instead of better in our Valley,” said Rep. Harder. “Letting our air get this bad is a total failure and I refuse to let my daughter grow up breathing worse air than I did.”
Additionally, the report indicates that San Joaquin County has experienced an increase in dangerous “high particle days” every year since 2014, culminating in a record 25 high particle days in 2020.
Read the full San Joaquin County report online here.
Original source can be found here.
