Colorado is a nationally known leader when it comes to improving our air quality. Our state has a strong history of recognizing what’s wrong and coming together to find ways to fix the problem. While there is still much to do, we’ve come a long way from the pervasive brown cloud of the 1970s and ’80s. And we’ve done it by working together as Coloradans.
We and other members of Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) have tackled many complex and demanding issues, from developing a plan for reducing lung-irritating pollutants like ozone and tiny particles of soot to deciding how best to keep air pollution from marring the spectacular visibility for which Colorado is famous.
But we didn’t make these decisions alone. Over the years, hundreds of Coloradans from all walks of life have participated in the commission’s processes. As a result of such broad involvement, these difficult decisions have stood the test of time and improved the air for Colorado families.
Over the next several years, Colorado must again take an important and necessary step to improve our air quality and reduce carbon emissions. Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, Colorado will have to find a way to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions 35 percent by the year 2030.
Colorado has found ways to step up to its responsibilities. For over a decade now, Colorado utilities have been making forward-looking decisions that place us on a path to reduce emissions 28 percent by 2030. Colorado’s proactive actions have positioned us well. We are confident that the AQCC can develop a plan to reduce the remaining 7 percent of emissions.
While Coloradans should be confident we will meet that goal, opponents of the Clean Power Plan are trying to undermine the AQCC’s time-tested, transparent process by adding layers of bureaucracy that could derail what has worked so well for so long. Senate Bill 258, which was introduced in the House last week, would merely add unnecessary red tape.
Maintaining transparency, accountability and fairness is critical to any public process, and it is more likely to result in solid decisions that stand the test of time. Inclusivity is one reason Colorado has made such significant progress.
Thankfully, in developing the Clean Power Plan, the EPA has carried out one of the most public and inclusive processes in recent history. That process must continue when it becomes Colorado’s turn to determine for itself how best to meet the challenge of reducing carbon emissions.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and AQCC have the expertise to understand what is being asked of us by the federal government and how best to make it work.
Barbara Roberts chaired the Air Quality Control Commission from 2009 to 2013. John Loewy was chair from 2013 to 2014.
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