The release last week of new data from the American Lung Association about the dangers of air pollution in California puts more urgency into current legislative efforts to reduce carbon pollution. The reality is that while air pollution in the form of greenhouse gas emissions is the leading cause of global warming, air pollution is also a major threat to public health, as well as the health of our birds and environment. We need to be able to breathe clean air if we are to truly enjoy the natural wonders of California.

According to the American Lung Association’s 2015 State of the Air report:

• Seventy percent of Californians (28 million residents) live in counties affected by unhealthy air.
• Eight California cities appeared among the top-ten most polluted metro areas in the nation for ozone and particle pollution. (Bakersfield, El Centro, Fresno, Hanford/Visalia, Los Angeles, Modesto-Merced, Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area).
• All 8 San Joaquin Valley counties experienced higher numbers of unhealthy particle days, and received a failing grades.
• The Los Angeles metro area remains ranked among the five most polluted in the nation for ozone and short-term and annual particles. Parts of the Los Angeles region experience more than 100 unhealthy ozone days per year.

It is important to understand that what is unhealthy to people is also unhealthy to birds and habitat. Studies have linked air pollution to declines in bird populations and habitat degradation.

Two important bills moving through the California State Legislature this year address the problem of carbon pollution. Senate Bill 32 expands California’s current climate pollution reduction target to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Senate Bill 350 calls for a 50% reduction in petroleum use in cars and trucks, a 50 percent increase in energy efficiency in buildings, and a goal of 50 percent of state utilities’ power coming from renewable energy, all by 2030.

Research shows that global warming caused by carbon pollution will threaten 170 California bird species in the coming decades.