Good News, Bad News

The good news is that the 2007 Summer of Ozone is behind us and here in the Denver metro area, things are cool and clear for the most part. That's because ozone usually doesn't climb to unhealthy levels in the fall or winter. Lately, ozone concentrations have been less than half of where the federal health standards are set, a welcome sign of relief.

The bad news is that the summer of 2008 is still ahead and we're still scrambling to come up with a strategy for reducing ozone next year.

Remember earlier in the year, Governor Bill Ritter called on the Regional Air Quality Council to develop a plan to reduce ozone pollution in 2008 and beyond. Although there have been several productive meetings so far, an ozone reduction plan for 2008 has yet to emerge.

The timing is disconcerting. If we're going to strengthen our clean air rules for 2008, it's got to happen soon. Not only do we need time to get rules adopted, but industry needs time to comply.

It's not that we lack options. Some have suggested targeting the oil and gas industry's ozone-forming pollution, ramping up efforts to clean up dirty cars, or even making our gasoline less volatile. If any of these options are going to be adopted, it needs to happen soon.

With our health on the line, it would be a shame if we couldn't strengthen our clean air rules in time for 2008. It looks like the window of opportunity is steadily closing, hopefully we can make it through in time.