Pollution Costs New Yorkers

New Yorkers pay for air pollution with their health.

Air pollution leads to more emergency room visits, more money spent on medications, and more missed days at work and school for people across New York.  

New York’s Sustainable Futures Fund is poised to make significant investments in cleaning the air and reducing these health burdens including new investments in new clean school buses, and electrifying buildings and homes. 

Boy next to school bus with text that reads: Invest in cleaner school buses in New York. NY Leaders must continue to protect kids' lungs and fund a sustainable future. Lower right corner is the American Lung Association logo.

This is critical because millions of New Yorkers live in a community impacted by unhealthy levels of air pollution. New York City is ranked among the most polluted American cities for ozone (“smog”) in our “State of the Air” 2025 report. New York counties are also impacted by unhealthy levels of fine particle pollution (“soot”) that have increased with major wildfire smoke episodes in recent years driven by climate change.

Transportation sources like school buses and heavy trucks, power plants, ports and other local pollution sources add significantly to costly health burdens. Cutting pollution that contributes to costly medical emergencies, hospitalizations, asthma attacks, lost school days, lost workdays and premature deaths must continue to be a priority. 

Read Our Blog: How Electric School Buses Are Safeguarding Our Children’s Health

Page last updated: November 25, 2025

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