HOUSTON — Houston's claim to fame as the Energy Capital of the World is landing Space City on a list many aren't too thrilled to be on.
"Where you live work or play shouldn’t really affect your health," said Anthony D'Souza, a Research and Policy Coordinator with Air Alliance Houston.
According to a newly released Smart Survey report, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, only had 38 good air quality days last year landing it at No. 2 for the worst air quality in the country.
"A lot of it has to do with the industrial presence in the city," D'Souza said.
Experts said several factors are at play for the country's fourth-largest city, from petrochemical plants to an expansive transportation demand.
"Having that many people relying on cars to get places, you’re going to have a lot of vehicular emissions as well which adds to that pollution," D'Souza said.
While it may seem like there are no improvements to the air Houstonians breathe, strides are being made at the federal and county levels through the Biden Administration's Investing in America agenda according to leaders with the Environmental Protection Agency.
"We’ve been able to award grants directly to community groups for air monitoring projects, for recycling projects, for climate action plans, for brown fuels and so on," said Earthea Nance, an administrator for EPA Region 6.
While also cracking down on illegal polluters.
"The county attorney's office is taking a very strong approach against these polluters and has sued them numerous times and also sued new polluters that want to build facilities near, you know, homes, churches, things like that," D'Souza said.
All to allow Houstonians to breathe a little easier one day at a time.
"I encourage everyone here to continue sharing your concerns with us about specific facilities so we can incorporate that into our inspection strategy or refer them to TCEQ," Nance said.