Guardians today applauded the Colorado Air Commission’s approval of new rules to rein in the fracking industry’s air pollution, while at the same time cautioning that much more aggressive action is needed to safeguard clean air, climate, and health from unchecked oil and gas extraction in the state.
The Air Quality Control Commission voted to adopt a suite of new regulations today, including eliminating a 90-day loophole that allowed the oil and gas industry to drill and frack without legally required air permits. The rules cap off Guardians’ Week of Action for Clean Air in Colorado, a series of public comment hearings throughout the state where hundreds of people showed up to voice support for reining in the fracking industry. Guardians also testified in support of strengthening proposed rules.
Today’s rules are a “first step” to address the oil and gas industry’s pollution and set the stage for the Air Commission to undertake more forceful rulemaking in 2020. With the Front Range continuing to violate health limits on ground-level ozone (a key ingredient of smog), we have no time to lose.
Read the press release.
