“We have the cleanest air we've had in many, many years.”
U.S. air has improved a great deal over the long run. EPA's 2025 air trends report finds combined emissions of the six common pollutants fell 79% from 1970 to 2024, and days with unhealthy air fell from 2,080 in 2000 to 757 in 2024.
Recent years have not been uniformly the cleanest. EPA reports that fire-related pollution (carbon monoxide, particle pollution and ozone) rose in recent years, most notably in 2023, and the American Lung Association found 2021 to 2023 had the most unhealthy particle-pollution days in its 26 years of reporting. No opened source says 2024 or 2025 air was the cleanest on record.
EPA, Our Nation's Air 2025: "national average air quality concentrations have shown long-term improvement and remain below the current, national standards."
- Yale/Columbia — 2024 Environmental Performance Index, United States country profile
- Snopes — Does the U.S. Have the 'Cleanest Air in the World'?
- PolitiFact — No, the United States isn't the cleanest country
- The Miller Center (2025-09-23)
Sources verified: July 4, 2026
One entry from Trexit's documented record. Tier A = contradicted by unambiguous documentary evidence; Tier B = has a true element or is genuinely contested, but materially misleading as stated. How we verify →