Though the Denver Metro area is in the midst of a smog crisis, the state of Colorado nevertheless wants to delay adopting stronger clean air safeguards for another year.
Under the Clean Air Act, Colorado was required to clean up the Denver Metro area’s ground-level ozone pollution by July 20, 2018 (ground-level ozone is a key ingredient of smog, and forms when smokestacks, tailpipes, and oil and gas operations react with sunlight.) Colorado then requested a one-year extension from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on its obligation to clean up the region’s ozone.
In a letter to the Governor and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Interim Director Karin McGowan, Guardians called on the officials to withdraw the extension request, urging the department to “keep communities on track for clean air and to prioritize the protection of public health, not slow down these efforts.”
Read the press release.
