Louisville’s bad air days are on the rise as Trump’s cuts to EPA alarm public health advocates
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
LOUISVILLE — Louisvillians spend more than a week every year breathing unhealthy air, according to new data from the American Lung Association.
The 2025 “State of the Air” report shows that about 125 million Americans live in counties that have a failing grade for ozone pollution, also known as smog.
In Louisville, “unhealthy days” for ozone pollution number eight per year on average — an increase from the average of five reported in the 2024 report. Ozone pollution can come from a variety of sources including cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants and more, according to the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA).
The American Lung Association has given Jefferson County a grade of “F” for ground-level ozone pollution because of the increase in unhealthy days. Louisville got a failing grade in the 2024 report as well.
Louisville also sees an average of 2.2 unhealthy days for particle pollution per year, up from the average of 1.3 reported in 2024. The city earned a “D” in that category, according to the report, down from a “C” in last year’s report. Particle pollution can come from many sources, such as construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks or fires, according to the EPA.
Louisville’s air ranks 32nd worst in the nation in this report, an improvement from 27th worst in the 2024 report.
When evaluating ozone and short-term particle pollution, researchers compared data from 2021-2023. The report examines all U.S. counties with available data, though many areas don’t have monitoring infrastructure.
“Air pollution impacts health,” said Shannon Baker, the advocacy director for the Lung Association in Kentucky. “Both ozone and particle pollution cause premature death and other serious health effects, including asthma attacks, and we have a high asthma rate here in Kentucky. Particle pollution can cause lung cancer, which we should be especially concerned about here in Kentucky.”
Kentucky already has the nation’s highest rate of lung cancer cases and one of the worst survival rates for the disease.
Other counties in Kentucky are far less affected, the report shows. Fayette County, the second most populous, got a “B” grade. Warren County, which is home to Bowling Green, earned a “B” as well.
“Irrespective of the number of people exposed to pollution, the impact on health is the same,” Baker said. “Talking about ozone or smog, Louisville just continues to struggle.”
The report
“The news is not good for Louisville, but it is not entirely atypical,” Baker said.
From 2021–2023, about 37% of the United States population “were exposed to levels of ozone that put their health at risk,” the report says. That’s an increase of nearly 25 million people from the 2024 report.
The report attributes the increase in people exposed to unhealthy ozone levels to climate change, citing extreme heat and wildfires as contributing culprits. Smoke from the 2023 Canadian wildfires that hazed over Louisville contributed to Jefferson County’s worsening score, Baker explained.
Kentucky’s floods also contribute to the polluted air, Baker said. She urged caution for people cleaning up and rebuilding.
Irrespective of the number of people exposed to pollution, the impact on health is the same. Talking about ozone or smog, Louisville just continues to struggle.
– Shannon Baker, the advocacy director for the Lung Association in Kentucky
“Standing water is a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses and mold, and those things can become airborne and be inhaled, putting people at risk for lung disease,” she said. “After this flooding emergency, we risk inhaling dust and building materials and contaminants and microorganisms during cleanup, which also add to lung disease complications.”
In early April, large swaths of Kentucky, including Louisville, faced significant flooding. The Ohio River at Louisville peaked at 68 feet during that event, much higher than its normal 20-30 feet.
“People need to be protecting themselves from exposure to these airborne particles and gasses, wearing gloves and goggles, as an example, and knowing that materials that can be cleaned and dried should be cleaned and dried thoroughly,” Baker said. “We shouldn’t use bleach to do that, so the water will work just fine, but, when in doubt about the cleaning and thorough drying, throw it out. Remove everything that has been soaked by water like clothing and furnishings and carpet and ceiling tiles, anything that can’t be cleaned and dried.”
The call to action: Protect the EPA, reduce personal carbon footprint
The report urges the federal government to protect the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA), saying the organization’s “key principles are to follow the science, follow the law and be transparent.”
“Those principles have guided decades of progress toward cleaner air. But efforts to undercut them put the agency’s core mission at risk,” the report says. “The bottom line is this: EPA staff, working in communities across the country, are doing crucial work to keep your air clean. Staff cuts are already impacting people’s health across the country. Further cuts mean more dirty air.”
The report cites President Donald Trump’s executive orders that “seek to overturn regulatory policies that reduce pollution from electricity generation and transportation,” in defending the EPA’s work.
In early March, the EPA announced the “greatest and most consequential day of deregulation” for its agency as it moved to implement Trump’s goals.
“While accomplishing EPA’s core mission of protecting the environment, the agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower cost of living for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions,” the EPA said at that time.
On Monday, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration will “cancel tens of millions of dollars in grants to scientists studying environmental hazards faced by children in rural America, among other health issues.” The Times cited internal emails by EPA officials.
“The Lung Association is calling on everyone to support and defend the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency, to protect human health and the environment,” Baker said. “It’s the EPA’s job to write and enforce rules that that make sure air pollution gets cleaned up to levels that are safer for people to breathe. It’s based on science, and we know that mission is under threat right now by federal actions to gut EPA staffing and programs and even rolling back rules that save lives.”
How to reduce personal carbon footprint
The Columbia Climate School offers suggestions for lowering individual carbon footprints. They include:
- Avoid buying fast fashion clothes, which result in significant waste, and buy durable clothes or recycled items instead. Think: vintage and thrift stores.
- Use reusable bags when shopping.
- Turn off lights and unplug electronics when they’re not in use.
- Find ways to drive less — carpool, bike, walk or use public transportation — when possible.
- Travel by airplane as little as possible. When you travel by air, try to book a nonstop flight to create fewer take-offs and landings.
Last updated 5:55 a.m., Apr. 23, 2025
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