Colorado’s Front Range air quality problem is real. The smog often obstructs our view of the state’s natural beauty while impacting health conditions.
Yet even as regulators target oil and gas development as the presumed source, the real ozone culprits are Colorado’s natural geography and out-of-state pollution — not the industry they’re eager to blame.
As The Gazette reported recently, the Air Quality Control Commission voted 7-2 to mandate an additional 50% cut in nitrogen-oxide emissions from oil and gas operations by 2030 — just five years from now. Nitrogen-oxide combines with volatile organic compounds in the air to form toxic ozone…