It was a report card that any savvy third grader would feed to his dog, rather than suffer the consequences of presenting it to his parents.
In this case, the American Lung Association awarded the five-county Philadelphia region an F for ozone pollution in the group's 2007 "State of the Air" report. "Needs Improvement" doesn't even begin to cover it.
That's why it is all the more significant that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is due in Philadelphia today to hold one of only five hearings scheduled across the country on reducing the ozone levels that produce smog pollution.
The environmental agency couldn't have made it any easier for this region to deliver a clear and simple message on smog to Washington regulators.
That message must be: Give us more fresh air, and make it quick.
This week and next, EPA officials are making the rounds to Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston as part of their deliberations on setting new air-quality standards.
The agency needs to tighten up substantially on the current ozone limits, which were set a decade ago. But environmental groups are right to question whether EPA is poised to do enough to help regions such as ours improve air quality even more than what has been accomplished.
In just a decade, scientists' better understanding of the impact of smog has shown that the 1997 standards no longer protect Americans from the harmful effects of ground-level ozone.
This is especially true for children and teens at risk for asthma, the elderly, and others.
Last year, the EPA's expert advisers in the scientific community suggested that permitted ozone limits should be ratcheted down by at least around 12 percent, and as much as 25 percent.
The Bush administration has staked out a less ambitious clean-air agenda. EPA proposes toughening the ozone standards by only about half as much as its scientific advisers suggest, and could even leave the current outdated standards in place.
Any asthma sufferers would want EPA to go with the toughest limits on air pollution. For a region with failing grades on ozone pollution, that's clearly the best course.
No question, it could boost industry and consumer costs to limit the power-plant and auto emissions that trigger much of the nation's smog.
But EPA should be acting in the interest of the public health, even if automakers and others in industry lobby for going slower.
It's not like Philadelphians can hold their breath while waiting for stronger measures to combat smog.
