The 10 most polluted states in the US

The Hill ^ | 09/10/22 12:00 PM ET | RUSSELL FALCON -

[BenLurkin]

Using 2021 data, U.S. News and World Reports’ feature on the “Best States” has ranked U.S. states on several metrics, including economics, education and health care. The listing also measures natural environment, which is based on a state’s air/water quality and pollution levels.

Pollution was determined based on air and water emissions from industry and utilities, and overall measures to long-term human health effects, using information from the Environmental Protection Agency.

States with the worst pollution

50. Louisiana

49. Nevada

48. Indiana

47. Delaware

46. Utah

45. Ohio

44. Oregon

43. Tennessee

42. Illinois

41. Alabama

40. Texas

[bort]

LOL. Of course New Jersey doesn’t make the list

[Clemenza]

That’s because the bad part of New Jersey is only 13 miles long but unfortunately a major US interstate runs right through the middle. Over 20% of NJ is a large pine forest and most of the state is suburban or rural, plus other than the refineries on the turnpike the state has been de industrialized.

[Clemenza]

Not surprised to see LA bringing up the rear. The area around the river within radius of Baton Rouge is absolutely disgusting.

[BenLurkin]

New Jersey barely missed being in the “top” ten. #38 on the list, #50 being the worst.

[BenLurkin]

Complete list here:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/natural-environment/pollution

[who_would_fardels_bear]

New Jersey is the Garden State.

That must be true. It's on their license plates.

[jacknhoo]

They should do cities, rather than states.

[al_c]

California is 6th best?! I call BS on that.

[Bernard]

Apparently, forest fire smoke and human poop on the sidewalk does not count as part of the criteria.

[dsrtsage]

I four wheel from the Utah border to the California border across the state of Nevada every year. This takes 7 to 10 days travel moving all day. The claim that it is the 2nd most polluted state is absolutely, and totally ludicrous. There are big mines here and there, and our air quality gets totally destroyed by California wildfires every year, and solar farms are creeping in covering vast stretches of previously undisturbed wilderness, but other than Alaska this is the only state you can go days without seeing a human being. I have been to every state except North Dakota, and claiming Nevada is #2 is absolutely ludicrous

[EvilCapitalist]

47. Delaware. Of course Delaware is polluted. Joe lives there.

[rktman]

Guess I need to leave the truck idling in the driveway some more if we want to beat out Louisiana. 🤔 “WE CAN DO THIS”

[FlingWingFlyer]

And everybody knows U.S. News and Third World Reports isn’t just another far left commie rag. This is BS. Somebody been hittin’ their “medical” happy smoke stash.

[x]

Yes, it's a very empty state. I was thinking that the rating may have to do with radiation or mine-runoff, but apparently Nevada exempts classic cars from emissions regulation. Whether or not it really makes the air worse than in other states, the activists who got rid of the loophole probably got to the list-makers.

And yes, the list is bullshit. They expect us to believe that California's cities can have some of the dirtiest air in the country, but the state can be one of the least polluted. The list probably just ranks the states with the tightest regulations the highest.

Interesting: Even though California ranks sixth among the least polluted states, many of its cities rank among America’s most polluted. Research from the American Lung Association ranked cities by ozone pollution, year-round particle pollution, and short-term particle pollution. California areas that ranked in the ALA’s top 10 most polluted cities in all three pollution categories include Los Angeles-Long Beach, Bakersfield, Fresno-Madera-Hanford, and Sacramento-Roseville.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

So Louisiana is 50th worst, in other words the best air in the nation? Somebody wasn’t thinking when they wrote that.

Delaware is #47. Too bad they didn’t have anybody influential in politics who could have cleaned that up. Maybe a Senator? Or a VP? Or maybe even a President?

I forgot. That guy got cancer from that dirty Delaware air.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Nevada ranks as the second-most polluted state...Melissa Ramos, manager of the Nevada ALA’s Clean Air Advocacy, said the Classic Car loophole was partly to blame for the state’s high emissions...Some tightening of the laws on classic vehicles is coming Jan. 1, 2023.

Yeah, "classic" cars are to blame (what a freaking idiot).

What is Brandon doing to classic cars in 2023? Is he going to have them all crushed next year? Is "classic" anything with an ICE engine?

[dsrtsage]

“but apparently Nevada exempts classic cars from emissions regulation”

That is true. I have a 1966 toyota landcruiser which is what I use on these cross state misadventures. I do not have to smog it, as you don’t have to smog anything earlier than 1968. I do not know if it is still true, but 30 years ago, you did not need to smog cars at all if you lived in rural counties. I would hate more than anything being forced to modify the landcruiser to accommodate emmision controls. That being said, I do have an early version of a fuel injection type system with sensors so the engine does run clean and efficient.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Yay, Idaho -- the #10 least polluted state.

Clear, clean mountain and lake air!

The biggest source of air pollution in North Idaho these days is forest fires from surrounding states and Canada. Idaho does a GREAT job of getting on forest fires when they are small. The lakes and wide rivers near us always have lots of Air Tractor - AT-802F FIRE BOSS firefighting aircraft scooping up water (up to 14,000 gallons per hour) to attack fires. We had a blessedly smoke-free summer up until a few days ago. The wet and cold spring kept the fires down.

The pollution article links to the overall US News rankings where Idaho is #5. Conservatives are always welcome to visit or live here!

[webheart]

US News and World Report was my Dad’s favorite bathroom reading when I was a kid 60 years ago. They, like most magazines at the time, were objective and actually pro American. It wasn’t until the 90’s that every single news source was taken over by the left indoctrinated journalism majors. Now you can’t even count on Fox or NewsMax and I don’t know how long Breitbart will last.