The evidence is clear: It’s going to take laws and rules to make Front Range air safe to breathe again.
air quality
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: The law demands rules to limit oil and gas drilling emissions. It’s time to actually make them.
Three years after a new law ordering pollution regulators to prioritize public health, we’re still stuck in data-collection mode.
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: 151 new oil and gas wells is just what Aurora doesn’t need
The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission should reject Crestone’s permit application.
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s ozone policy exists between fantasy and reality
I had a strange feeling of falling back in time to the “Twilight Zone” TV series of the early ’60s as I read the charts that explain why it’s so hard to cut Colorado’s ozone. I’ll save you the trip to Wikipedia: “Twilight Zone” episodes included “fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, supernatural […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
EPA agrees with air pollution whistleblowers on inspector general complaints, asks Colorado to review 11 permits
The Environmental Protection Agency agreed Thursday with many claims by Colorado air pollution division employee whistleblowers that the state was issuing permits without proper modeling or review, and recommended revision of at least 11 permits in dispute. Three Air Pollution Control Division employees filed a complaint with the EPA’s Office of Inspector General last year […]
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: An alarm is raised, little is done, and employees flee
Fed up with the state’s failure to regulate air permits and after years of quietly watching the quality of Colorado’s air decline, about a year ago three state employees bravely came forward. The whistleblowers called out the state Air Pollution Control Division for rubber-stamping air permits and failing to meet the standards required in the […]
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Praise for Xcel’s agreement to stop burning coal by 2031
As elected officials from different parts of the state, we are encouraged by the recent decision by Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission regarding Xcel Energy’s Electric Resource Plan. Xcel is the state’s largest electric utility, serving 1.3 million Colorado customers. Because electricity generation is Colorado’s second largest carbon-emitter after transportation, this decision will have real and […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Transportation
Electric school buses are in Colorado’s future. But districts need help paying for them.
One by one, the big yellow diesel-powered school buses shuttling kids back and forth in Colorado districts are rumbling along on their final routes and, after many thousands of miles, belching their last plumes of exhaust. With increasing concerns about the harmful effects of school bus tailpipe emissions on both children’s health and the environment, […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Switching from natural gas to electricity will reduce Colorado’s smog
The news in April that federal regulators have proposed downgrading the ozone status for Denver and the northern Front Range from “serious” to “severe” should come as a wakeup call. Our region has a major smog problem. As our city, county, and state leaders develop plans and budgets to deliver the air-quality relief our communities […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Sens. Fenberg, Gonzales, Hansen and Winter: Say goodbye to the brown cloud
Everyone deserves to breathe clean, healthy air, regardless of their ZIP Code. Unfortunately, that is not the case for far too many of our neighbors, and it impacts kids, older Coloradans, and folks in disadvantaged communities the hardest. Last summer, Denver had the worst air quality in the world. The Northern Front Range was recently […]