Polis lays out plan to cut ozone level, as oil industry rep labels it ‘ambitious’
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO)-- Colorado Governor Jared Polis is ordering state regulators to set new rules for the oil and gas industry. The goal is to sharply cut ozone emissions by the year 2030.
Polis is directing state regulators to lower the amount of nitrogen oxide produced from petroleum development.
The governor's mandate is directed at the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
He wants the agencies to draw up new regulations by the end of next year, that would have oil and gas producers cut nitrogen oxide emissions by at least 30% by 2025. By 2020, he wants them cut in half.
"Those are some very, very ambitious goals that the Governor set out in his letter today," Lynn Granger with the American Petroleum Institute said.
Nitrogen oxides are gases that form when fuel is burned at high temperatures, and according to the Environmental Protection Agency, they play a big part in reducing air quality.
"Our analysis shows that with these efforts, we can save Coloradans half a billion dollars per year in health care costs, preventing diseases like heart attacks, asthma, even premature death," Polis said in a video, sent to the media.
The governor says his directives are for a goal that is the first of its kind in the nation.
"We've seen a number of other pieces of legislation that call for emission reduction targets and feel like, yes, our goalposts are moving," Granger said. She's not as worried about the 2030 goal. She thinks the technology to meet it will be there. But says the changing targets have been tough for the industry to meet.
She adds that cutting levels by 30% for 2025 could be tough, and may result in expenses that will be passed on to consumers.
"When we talk about any sort of new regulation, that adds to the cost of doing business in our state."
Granger added that because of Senate Bill 181, passed in 2019, Colorado already has some of the most stringent oil and gas regulations in the country, and even globally.
She says as a result, the oil and gas sector has already made big reductions in Colorado, and regulators should be looking at other sources of pollution as well.
