Inhofe Weighing in on Colorado Ozone?

An article on Thursday reports that Senator Inhofe has formally criticized local state and federal workers for using infrared camera technology to detect leaking equipment at oil and gas developments.

Inhofe's response here is not only off base, it's a slap in the face for Coloradoans. A Senator from Oklahoma, Inhofe has no business weighing in on local pollution control efforts. On top of that, the infrared camera technology he's criticizing is widely used by the oil and gas industry to detect leaks of ozone-forming compounds. The Environmental Protection Agency has even proposed a rule that would allow this technology to be used as a credible tool to detect ozone-forming compounds to meet regulatory requirements.

In other news, on Thursday the state held its fourth and final stakeholders meeting on its proposal to require stronger ozone controls at oil and gas developments not just in the Denver metro area, but statewide. For those that haven't seen, the state has some great materials online spelling out the problem in detail and why there's such a huge need to get a handle on uncontrolled ozone pollution from oil and gas developments.

Industry's response to the state's proposal is that there's no need for stronger controls because air quality is "good." Yet Air Quality Control Commissioner Bob Brady who was present at the meeting spelled things out pretty clearly--this is about being proactive, not reactive.

Although industry is wrong that air quality is "good" (Denver's ozone continues to rise and ozone levels in western Colorado are rising), this isn't about waiting for things to get bad. We can't afford to wait until a health crisis happens before we act. This just makes sense and it's the responsible course of action. I echo Commissioner Brady. We need to be proactive, not reactive.