The average red states’ air is 10 percent cleaner than the average blue state, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data analyzed by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
The EPA data tracks average exposure to small particulates, which kill roughly 5.5 million people globally every year and cause most asthma. Particulate emissions have fallen by 35 percent since the year 2000, mostly in states that voted for Republicans.
The state with the cleanest air in America was Wyoming, which had a population-weighted average exposure to particulates of five. California’s air was the nation’s dirtiest, with an average weighted exposure of 12.5. The average red state had a weighted exposure of 8.31 while the average blue state had an exposure of 9.05. Adjusted for scale, this means that red states have air that is 9.87 percent cleaner than blue states.
Data From Environmental Protection Agency, Mapped By The Daily Caller News Foundation
The four states with the best air quality in the country, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana and Alaska, are all red states. Only one of the five states with the worst air quality in the country is a red state. The worst air quality in the country is found in Illinois, Pennsylvania and California, which have all consistently voted for Democrats.
California has the worst air quality by a wide margin. The four worst cities in the country, Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia, and Modesto, are are all in California. The state also has six cities on American Lung Association’s list of the ten cities with the worst air quality.
