On the same day environmental groups called out Colorado officials for missing a key EPA deadline to clean up ozone pollution violations widely attributed to driving, business groups declared victory in weakening the state’s new set of rules to reduce air pollution caused by employee car commutes. The double whammy was not lost on conservationists, […]
National Jewish Health
Posted inClimate, Environment, Health, News
Some of the worst ozone pollution in the U.S. settles along the Front Range. New rules to fix it are ahead.
When it comes to oxygen, the Front Range sometimes has too much of a good thing. On many sunny, summer days the region has not only O2 in the air but also O3 – oxygen with an extra atom that transforms it into a corrosive gas — ozone. “The extra atom of oxygen turns it […]
Posted inHealth, News
Is Colorado’s allergy season worse than it used to be?
Ah, spring, the crocuses popping up to see if the pandemic is over. Lambs and calves gamboling in the fields. Pollen coating your car and your lungs like Denver was rolled in baby powder. More than 24 million Americans report hay fever each year, according to the CDC, and the sneezing and scratching of allergic […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The joy of COVID-19 vaccination on Valentine’s Day
We started off slowly, with just a trickle of people. I thought last Sunday’s brutal cold might keep turnout low. And there were a few early morning glitches as we worked out our routine. But by mid-day, Amy Schouten, the nurse giving the shots, and I, her “vaccine buddy,” had hit our stride. She was […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, Health
Air pollution, asthma rates in Colorado’s San Luis Valley are a growing concern
Asthma-inducing poor air quality is most often associated with industry- and car-heavy Front Range cities. Or in a dry summer like 2020, smaller towns suffocating in wildfire smoke. Hours of driving away from Colorado’s biggest cities, though, the San Luis Valley has a growing asthma problem of its own, likely inflated by climate change. Winds […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Health, News
Don’t use coronavirus antibody tests for workplace decisions, western Colorado health officials say
Some Ouray County employers have asked workers to get coronavirus antibody tests in order to return to work, against the advice of medical experts who question the value and accuracy of the tests. In the last seven weeks, 27 people have had blood drawn at Mountain Medical Center for the testing, which measures whether people […]