Colorado Joins Industry in Opposition to Clean Air

The state of Colorado has joined Duke Energy in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to oppose a landmark Clean Air Act lawsuit that would require cleaner smokestacks and healtheir air in our communities. The suit has been supported by nearly two dozen states, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, several health advocacy groups, including the American Lung Association and Environmental Defense, and even the Bush Administration.

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action board member Eric Schaeffer, who formerly headed the EPA's office of regulatory enforcment and now leads the Environmental Integrity Project, has spoken out in support of requiring cleaner smokestacks and in support of this lawsuit. It's unclear why Colorado has mounted an opposition to cleaner smokestacks.

A press release on this issue from Environmental Defense is online pointing out how Colorado's opposition to clean air flies in the face of efforts to reduce ozone pollution in the Denver area, especially with regards to the operation of power plants like the Cherokee Station north of Denver (picture below). However, Colorado's opposition doesn't just undermine pollution control efforts in Denver, but in the communities of Canon City, Craig, Fort Morgan, Hayden, Pueblo, and others throughout the state.