Stricter ozone standards are likely to come out of Washington, D.C., before the end of the month, a prospect that has stirred some business interests to raise objections.
We have long supported cleaner air and efforts to clamp down on the emissions that create ozone, but we share concerns recently expressed by The Business Roundtable about the severity of these particular rules.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s independent science advisory panel suggested the ozone level should be set at 60 to 70 parts per billion. The current level, set in 2008 by the Bush administration, is 75 parts per billion.
Regulators in the Denver metro area have long toiled to meet the current levels not only because of pollution, but because of the area’s topography and relatively high levels of naturally occurring ozone.
If the Obama administration sets the new ozone standard at the more restrictive end of the proposed range, the Denver metro area will be hard-pressed to meet it.
We know our friends in the environmental community take issue with this, believing that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Their overriding concern is having clean air to breathe, and who could argue with that?
We are certainly in favor of cleaner air as well, but it is pragmatic to ask what cost businesses and consumers will be asked to bear in terms of dollars and lifestyle changes.
Ground-level ozone is created by a chemical reaction between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds as they are baked by sunlight.
The substance can worsen bronchitis and emphysema and can cause wheezing and breathing difficulties during outdoor activities, particularly in the heat of a summer day.
We understand the detrimental health effects, and don’t dismiss them. However, the reality is that areas of Colorado, including the Denver metro area, have not had much success in meeting even the 2008 ozone levels that are now considered insufficient.
The prospects for meeting stricter standards are grim.
EPA projections show that if the government adopts a new standard in the middle of the proposed range, four Colorado counties would fail to meet the standards in 2020. Those counties are Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson and Larimer.
If the administration imposes the strictest limit, five more counties would be added to the list, including Denver and Boulder.
The question becomes one of cost. The Business Roundtable, comprised of chief executives of top U.S. companies, estimates it would cost businesses $20 billion to $90 billion annually to meet the new rules, depending on how strict they are. The EPA counters the changes would yield health benefits of $13 billion to $100 billion.
President Obama can use his discretion in setting new ozone regulations, though he must keep in mind whether his standards stand up to legal challenge.
We hope as administration officials mull the decision they’ll go with a level at the less stringent end of the range. That would be tough enough to meet for much of the country, including the Denver metro area, but it would be a realistic adjustment that ultimately will move the country forward in cleaning up ozone.
