Colorado fails to meet EPA ozone standard

Coloradans don’t have clean air to breathe just yet. The Denver Metro area and the North Front Range (DMNFR) missed their July 20, 2021 deadline to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ozone pollution air quality standards. 

Ground-level ozone can cause lung damage and creates significant health risks for people with asthma, children and older adults. On a July 20 webinar alongside local public health experts, CoPIRG highlighted actions our leaders can and must take to reduce ozone pollution. For instance, the Employer-based Trip Reduction Program would encourage people to carpool or use public transportation to get to work along with walking and biking. Reducing emissions from public transportation and shifting to electric vehicles are also important changes that Colorado could make.

“The smoke alarm has been going off for years,” Danny Katz, executive director of CoPIRG, told the Colorado Sun. “Too often, people from Denver up to Fort Collins are breathing unhealthy air. More needs to be done to ensure every Coloradan can live a healthy life, breathing the clean air they deserve.”

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Photo: COP Director Danny Katz and clean air supporters at a clean air rally in 2019. Credit: Staff