As a parent, I would not be pleased if my kids brought home F’s on their report cards. Stern talks with my children, frantic phone calls and scheduled meetings with teachers and administrators would ensue. Plans of action would be crafted. It would be an urgent wake-up call.
This week, several counties in Colorado and Wyoming brought home poor grades on their clean air report cards. The American Lung Association examined the levels of damaging ozone pollution in counties in these two western states and several of them are simply not making the grade.
High ozone levels are not new to Colorado. Like many large metropolitan areas, Denver has struggled with ozone pollution (commonly known as smog) for many years. But historically, such problems have been limited to the summertime and to the Denver metropolitan area. Now unhealthy levels of ozone are becoming a common occurrence year-round and are emerging in rural parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
The culprit? Air pollution from oil and gas development, which is just one of the environmental risks associated with a booming natural gas industry. Read More