Nevada County’s air is a lot cleaner than it used to be. A new report by the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association says air quality throughout the state has been a success story, with across-the-board decreases in pollutants over the last 20 years. Locally, Air Pollution Control Officer Gretchen Bennitt with the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District says the report takes a look at pollutants like ozone…

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Bennitt says the number of days with high ozone levels dropped considerably…

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Bennitt says they haven’t quite come up with an explanation of why that is…

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Now they have a new theory…

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The report says over the last 20 years, the state’s population has increased by 22 percent, and the number of miles driven is up 45 percent, but at the same time, emissions of smog-forming pollutants are down 50 percent. You can look at the report at the air district’s website, my-air-district dot-com.