Last week there were two days in the Tampa Bay area so smoggy that air pollution advisories were announced. And according to a new report released on Wednesday by the group Environment Florida, the region ranks second, only behind Pensacola, as far as having the smoggiest air in the Sunshine State.
But at least unlike other national reports, the Tampa Bay area doesn't rank among the worst communities in the country, in this case in terms of dirty air, according to the report, titled Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Air Days in 2010 and 2011.
Paul Rolfe with that group said he was disappointed by President Obama's decision over the Labor Day weekend to scrub a regulation that would have reduced concentrations of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, a powerful lung irritant that can cause asthma and other lung ailments. But he chose to look forward, urging Floridians to lobby their members of Congress to oppose a bill scheduled to be voted on this week that would require cost-benefit analysis of clean air regulations.
