We've worked hard to usurp the crown from Houston. You think that poluting is an easy thing? No way! There are many factors involed for being the number one metropolitan area of polution. 1) You need a lot of poluters. 2) They need to polute a lot, yet not be shut down by the authorities. 3) You need to keep the polution local. If the winds or rain just get rid of it all the time, what's the point? Southern California fits the mold perfectly. We have a lot of emissions because of the sheer amount of people living here. We've got tons of cars and tons of businesses. We also do not have a lot of winds most of the time, and rain is seldom. When the Prevailing Westerlies strike, it does not take our polution far because we have mountains to keep it local. I am glad that we've been awarded with this presitigeous prize. I just hope that we can continue the good work for years into the future. If you want to read more about smog and the Southern California situation you can read my paper.