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wildfires
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![The Salt Fire burns in Shasta County, as seen from I-5 June 30, 2021. Photograph: Andrew Nixon/CapRadio](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/17/Saltfire.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
Smoke, Screened: As U.S. wildfires pollute the skies, a loophole is obscuring the impact. Can it be fixed?
Everyone agrees it’s time to change the Clean Air act’s exceptional events rule, but has different solutions.
![Shobe has his own air monitor on his porch. Photograph: Brittany Greeson/The Guardian](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/16/TheGuardian_Stellantis__30.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
Smoke, Screened: In Detroit, a ‘magic wand’ makes dirty air look clean — and lets polluters off the hook
Across the US, local governments, lobbyists and industry have spent millions to get wildfire pollution excluded from the record. People like Robert Shobe pay the price.
![How we compiled and analyzed air pollution data for ‘Smoke, Screened’](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/15/showcase_8602x_1.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
How we compiled and analyzed air pollution data for ‘Smoke, Screened’
MuckRock and The California Newsroom spent a year requesting and analyzing EPA data on air pollution and talking with experts about what the data means. Here’s how we did it and what it means for the more than 21 million Americans impacted by a regulatory loophole in the Clean Air Act.
![Firefighters battle the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill, California on September 7, 2022. Photograph: Andrew Nixon/CapRadio](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/13/090722mosquitofirebq3a0468-2.jpg.800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
What is the exceptional events rule? The loophole letting U.S. regulators wipe air pollution from the record
First pushed through by the Republican senator and climate denier Jim Inhofe, the rule has become a “regulatory escape hatch” for states that want to meet federal air-quality standards.
![A resident who stayed in Foresthill, California despite an evacuation order due to the Mosquito Fire, takes a picture of the wildfire's plume on September 7, 2022. Photograph: Andrew Nixon/CapRadio](https://cdn.muckrock.com/news_images/2023/10/15/Smoke_Screened_banner_2.png.800x600_q85_crop.png)
Smoke, Screened: How a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans
Major investigation shows local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that’s dirtier than they realize