Our Clean Air Blog

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action is consolidating all its blogging on the Our Clean Air blog. Keep tabs for up-to-date information on Denver's air quality status, as well as news and updates on clean air issues throughout the Rocky Mountain region. All our old Denver Ozone posts will continue to be here, but be sure to update your bookmarks for future reference. Thanks everyone!

On Track for Clean Air?

It's six months before the start of the 2008 ozone season and so far, no short-term strategy for reducing ozone has been developed, let alone adopted in time to keep people safe in the Denver metro area.

And, as a recent article in the Rocky Mountain News reports, time is now the greatest hurdle to reducing ozone in 2008.

That's a shame, too. It's been over five months since Governor Ritter charged the Regional Air Quality Council with developing a plan to reduce ozone in 2008 to keep people safe and healthy. If time is the only hurdle we face, it's because of monumental footdragging, not because of any inevitability.

Sure, the Regional Air Quality Council staff has come up with a list of potential strategies to reduce ozone, but these strategies are dubious at best.

For one thing, the "plan" relies on existing or voluntary measures to reduce ozone. In other words, the plan relies on the same measures that got us here in the first place. Only seven "new" strategies to reduce ozone are being proposed.

And of the "new" strategies, the Regional Air Quality Council staff predicts only a 0.5% reduction in volatile organic compounds and a 0.12% reduction in nitrogen oxides, both key ozone forming pollutants.

Time is not on our side, and it's because of dilly-dallying around.

But you know, this is not the fault of the Regional Air Quality Council or its staff. The reason is industry resistance to protecting clean air. Most oil and gas drillers for example, have adamantly opposed efforts to reduce ozone for 2008. We say most because some companies have actually stepped up to the plate. EnCana, an oil and gas company operating north of Denver, is voluntarily implementing a host of ozone reducing strategies.

Yet for every company like EnCana, there are, unfortunately, two or more that refuse to do anything to keep Denver safe from ozone pollution, and this ruins it for everyone.

Just look at the oil refiners It's estimated that reducing the volatility of gasoline at Denver's refineries could reduce ozone forming compounds by 3.5 tons/day. This would amount to nearly 25 times more pollution reductions than could be achieved by tightening tailpipe emission standards for cars. Yet as effective and promising as this strategy is, oil refiners have shunned the idea of reducing the volatility of gasoline in the near-term.

Footdragging is one thing, but resisting clean air is another. With industry refusing to step up to the plate to reduce ozone in 2008, it means more air pollution is likely in store for the Denver metro area.

What We Love About Denver

Okay, we've really harped on the fact that Denver has some serious air pollution problems. That said, we have to say that Denver's an amazing place to live. Why is that? Well, here's just a few reasons that the Mile High City is a great place to call home:

• It has a City Council that's looking out for clean air;
• It has a smart and thoughtful Mayor who, despite the fact that he hires high-powered lobbyists to do much of his bidding, still manages to look out for the little guy. That, and he's a geologist. For anyone who's gone to school for geology, you know what I'm talking about.
• It has a health department that's actively involved in securing stronger clean air rules (that's right, our Health Department is diligently working to reduce air pollution).
• It has Representative Diana DeGette, a steadfast supporter of clean air;
• It's home to world class sports teams. We may not have the "winningest" sports teams, but they still make things lively and classy.
• It has a world class science museum that's featured the likes of Ray Troll.
• It has a pedestrian mall in the middle of downtown (and a free shuttle, woo hoo!).
• It has a bike path along the South Platte River, admittedly the most disgusting, yet beautiful, stretch of river in the area.
• It has an eerily pleasant skyline, especially when viewed from City Park.
• It looks good in snow cover (that and it actually gets snow).
• There's actually parts of Denver that feel like you're living in a small town.
• There's foxes living in Park Hill, among other neighborhoods.
• You can get KCFR in Denver, as well as KUNC and Radio 1190.
• It has TWO daily newspapers (count them, two)--the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post (we think the Rocky Mountain News is the better, but you be the judge).
• It has a wonderful independent bookstore, the Tattered Cover.
• It has Governor Ritter, who has called on the Regional Air Quality Council to clear the air.
• It has nice people--have you ever met a more polite, considerate, and thoughtful population than in Denver?

Granted, Denver's not perfect. But it's a damn good city overall. It just needs some cleaning up. Care to help?

The Smell of Christmas

Denver Post columnist Susan Greene today points the finger at a problem we all know exists, but for some reason decide to live with it. It's the problem of Denver's stinky, wintertime air.

I should clarify, though. Many of us would rather not deal with the smell. A dogfood factory, rendering plants, feedlots, refineries--I think most of us in Denver would be ecstatic to not have to wake up with the stink these factories produce.

But try asking any of these smelly polluters to keep their noxious odors in check. Do you think they'll do it?

It's doubtful, and that's where the root of problem lies. For you and me, if we fouled up our home with the wafting smell of rendering or making dog food, our neighbors would be livid, and with good reason. We'd probably stop what we were doing out of respect for our neighbors.

Polluters, on the other hand, are allowed to just keep on spewing offensive odors all over their neighbors. Bizarre, isn't it? What's really bizarre though, is that polluters don't have enough respect to try to keep their foul smells away from their neighbors. Really, that's what this is all about--being a good neighbor.

Maybe things will change at some point. One would think the last thing any city leader or promoter would want to see is a column in the Denver Post bemoaning the "brown smell of Christmas." Smelly air isn't exactly the kind of image you'd think they'd tolerate. Now go clean it up!

NOx: Friend or Foe?

NOx is what it sounds like, noxious gases made of nitrogen and oxygen that are released during fossil fuel combustion. NOx is short for nitrogen oxides, which includes a bunch of different gases, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which can damage your throat and lungs, and nitrous oxide (N2O), also known as laughing gas, which is a potent greenhouse gas. NOx comes from smokestacks and tailpipes.

But NOx is noxious in another way--it reacts with sunlight to form ground-level ozone, which is plaguing the Denver metro area in the summertime (see the picture below).

Yet the relationship between NOx isn't exactly linear. In some cases, NOx can actually reduce ozone. NOx is the reason that the ozone monitor in downtown Denver consistently has the lowest ozone readings in the metro area. When NOx goes up, ozone goes down in downtown Denver, and vice-a-versa.

It's this crazy relationship that has some folks resisting the idea of reducing NOx here in Denver to keep people safe from ozone. Reduce NOx, they say, and you'll increase ozone.

It's not that simple, though.

Sure, in some cases, reducing NOx will increase ozone, but the increases are never substantial. In downtown Denver, ozone concentrations rarely, if ever, rise above 70 parts per billion, which is far below the current health standard of 80 parts per billion.

Not only that, but to the extent NOx may decrease ozone, the effect is extremely local. While NOx may decrease ozone in downtown Denver, it sure doesn't decrease ozone in Highlands Ranch, Boulder, Golden, or Fort Collins. All these places suffered through bouts of unhealthy ozone this past summer.

And finally, study after study shows that reducing NOx helps reduce ozone, especially over large areas. One study found that the blackouts in the northeast back in 2003 decreased ozone across Pennsylvania by about 50%. That's because NOx emissions from coal burning power plants ceased.

But don't get us wrong, reducing NOx alone won't solve Denver's ozone woes. At a forum last week, atmospheric scientist Jana Milford made clear that it's going to take both reductions in NOx, as well as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which are also key ozone forming pollutants.

In the past, the State of Colorado has written off NOx reductions as a way to reduce ozone in Denver. This needs to change. In our struggles to keep ozone below unhealthy levels, reducing NOx from smokestacks and tailpipes is going to be key to keeping the region healthy.

The Week's Unhealthy Air

Air pollution got so bad in the Denver metro area last week that we exceeded federal health standards.

On both Wednesday and Thursday, particulate pollution climbed to levels not seen since last February. These particulates aren't made of dust and dirt. They're acid droplets that form when pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes condense.

These particulates are less than 2.5 microns in diameter, or less than 1/28 the size of a human hair. They're so small that they make their way to the bottoms of our lungs and even into our bloodstream. Called PM-2.5, these particles are linked to a number of health problems, including premature death.

If this is news to you, don't be surprised. None of the local newspapers or TV stations actually reported the news. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a red pollution advisory on both days, but it didn't make news at all.

The sad thing is, Denver has been dealing with unhealthy particulate pollution for awhile now. Last winter, the metro area exceeded federal health standards 9 days in a row. Have things changed? It doesn't seem like it.

In the meantime, if you want to check in on air quality in the Denver metro area, you can check out Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action's website, which is linked to current air quality readings.

And, if you're frustrated that we still have to deal with unhealthy particulate air pollution, e-mail Jim Martin, the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, at james.martin@state.co.us. Please tell him that it's abhorrent that the Denver metro area is exceeding particulate pollution standards, and that the state should cut pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes to keep us safe.

Here's Denver's particulate pollution from last Wednesday afternoon.

The Latest News

It's been a busy couple of weeks for those of us working to keep people safe from smog in the Denver metro area. Here's some highlights:

• On November 20th, the EPA officially declared the Denver metro area to be in violation of federal health standards for ozone. The declaration really kicks off clean up efforts.
• The declaration follows on the heels of Governor Bill Ritter's call last July for the Regional Air Quality Council to immediately develop an ozone reduction plan for 2008 and beyond.
• Despite that call, the Regional Air Quality Council has yet to develop an ozone reduction plan for 2008 and beyond.
• That footdragging prompted a December 4th editorial from the Denver Post simultaneously stating that the Regional Air Quality Council "must move on ozone solutions" and bizarrely praising the Council for acting "wisely" so far. Although it's been nearly five months since Governor Ritter called on the Regional Air Quality Council to do something, they haven't yet. Is this really wise?
• In the meantime, a coalition of local governments and environmental groups, including Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, have put together a comprehensive set of recommendations for reducing ozone in the Denver metro area. The plan, called "The Path Forward," calls for pollution reductions from coal burning power plants, clean cars, cleaner fuels, expanded transit, pollution cuts from oil and gas drilling, and other strategies. The plan promises to set the tone as regulators decide how to reduce ozone and keep the Denver metro area safe from smog.

At the moment though, ozone is the least of the Denver metro area's worries. Snow, ice, and, sadly, random shootings are weighing heavily on most minds. It's shaping up to be a hard winter.