Only Halfway?

The EPA finally proposed its revised health standards for ozone last Thursday, announcing it would lower the standard from 0.080 parts per million to between 0.070 and 0.075 parts per million (or 70-75 parts per billion). Ozone is the main ingredient of smog and poses a myriad of terrible health effects.

Okay, for all your folks out there who think public health advocates are too cynical all the time, we have one thing to say:

Hooray (cough)!

All right, we're sorry. We couldn't pull off a non-cynical response and had to insert a "cough." But there is a good reason, we swear, and it's not because we're cynical, we also swear!

As we discussed on our Denver Ozone blog (which all non-Denver metroites are free to carouse), the EPA really only went halfway in terms of a new ozone standard. Remember, all the health science supports an ozone standard of 60 parts per billion. The EPA's proposed standard is 20% weaker than this.

And when it comes to our health, why would we only go halfway? Should we just be happy that one of our lungs might be safe? What about those with only one lung? Have you ever heard of a doctor being happy with halfway curing a patient?

There is good news though. As the Denver Post showed us today, we're not alone in calling on the EPA to protect our health.

Of course, industry is worried over the prospect of having to do more to keep us safe from air pollution.

In Colorado Springs, which would be in violation of the EPA's proposed standard, the coal burning power plants are already pointing the finger. According to Colorado Springs Utilities, their emissions aren't the problem. Right. In virtually every other part of the United States, coal burning power plants have been required to cut their emissions to keep smog in check. In fact, according to industry's own data, coal burning power plants in Colorado Springs emit over twice as much smog forming pollution as power plants back east.

In the rest of the state, the oil and gas industry is on edge, shuddering at the thought of having to do more to keep people safe from their air pollution. This is surprising, in a way. Did you know that, unlike other industries, controlling smog forming pollution from the oil and gas industry means recovering methane (i.e., valuable product)? In fact, there are dozens of control options available that both reduce smog forming pollution and can yield a payback for industry.

So what will the future yield? For sure, we're on track for cleaner, healthier air here in the Rockies. But we'll need to fight for it. Cynicism aside, the reality is that industry is simply too focused on its own profits to keep us all safe from air pollution.

We'll overcome this though, just you wait (see, we're not as cynical as you thought after all)!