Step Taken to Reduce Ozone

The Air Quality Control Commission voted today to move forward to adopt rules that would reduce ozone pollution in the Denver metro area. The proposal would ratchet down ozone-forming compound emissions from oil and gas developments. Thankfully, the oil and gas industry supported the proposal to move forward with rulemaking.

However, the oil and gas industry alluded that it won't support the proposed ozone reductions. This is too bad. The state's efforts to reduce emissions of ozone-forming compounds would make great strides towards protecting clean air in the Denver metro area. It could be enough to avoid a nonattainment designation. Although such a designation would protect clean air, it would lead to the imposition of even more stringent limits on air pollution from oil and gas developments.

In the coming month, it will be interesting to see how this process plays out. One would hope industry would be more than willing to get behind the proposed ozone reductions to avoid strict regulations. Regardless, clean air is the goal and one way or another, clean air will happen.