This summer, Golden has experienced a combination of smoke particles and ozone. Walking out the door brings a nearly constant reminder of the urgency to do everything we can to address our poor air quality for the health, safety and welfare of our residents and for the future of the planet.
Situated as we are in a valley between the Front Range foothills and two mesas, with Clear Creek flowing through our downtown, Golden is outside of what is normally considered the impact area for oil and gas development. Yet the cumulative impacts of this industry that happen outside our city boundaries are felt by local residents every day. Because of prevailing winds coming from the northwest, residents of Golden are increasingly forced to cancel outdoor summer activities and adjust their lives, and they must take extra measures to protect the elderly, children, and those with compromised immune systems from hazardous air quality.
As a Golden City Council member, I am painfully aware of our ozone nonattainment status, and the city works diligently on measures to improve air quality. These measures, such as vehicle and building electrification, improvements to our biking and pedestrian infrastructure, and electrification of small handheld lawn and garden maintenance equipment, are indeed making a difference locally. But if we are to make significant strides in emissions reductions, we need a concerted, statewide, team effort.
One of the greatest challenges communities like mine face is that oil and gas wells are only evaluated for their individual impact and are not evaluated for the impacts they have in totality – including the combined pollution that our residents and visitors face. I’m encouraged that the Colorado Legislature, through House Bill 23-1294, directed Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission to adopt rules that evaluate and address the cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations. This is a great step, and vitally important for protecting residents and visitors from the dangerous impacts of Nitrous Oxides emission and ozone.
Reducing emissions is important not only for those in oil and gas production regions, but also for residents and visitors across the Front Range, as well as for anyone who cares about slowing the worst impacts of climate change.
Local governments have a great deal of control over emission sources within their jurisdictional boundaries. But unfortunately, the significant amount of volatile organic compounds released during all phases of oil and gas production outside of Golden’s boundaries, make it impossible to protect people from these dangerous conditions. Robust statewide rules are needed.
In 2024, the Legislature explicitly directed the ECMC to minimize adverse impacts in Disproportionately Impacted communities., The draft Cumulative Impact Rules as currently written do not adequately protect those who are most vulnerable to the dangers of these pollutants nor do they adequately evaluate the impacts of this industry on an operator-by-operator basis. The draft rules effectively create an industry carve-out that allows operators to ignore those who are most seriously impacted. Unfortunately, the rules as written allow operators to claim compliance in areas they have already cumulatively impacted. I am hopeful that through the rulemaking process, the final rule will effectively protect all Coloradans from the harmful emissions of the oil and gas industry.
This industry is releasing too many ozone precursors into the environment. With this rulemaking, the ECMC can address some of the biggest problem areas. What the commission shouldn’t do is continue to advance permits that contribute to the problem and can claim “negligible impact.” All impacts are real and cumulative, and they all impact downwind residents of Colorado.
Don Cameron is a Golden City Council member. He has also served on many volunteer boards and committees including the Planning Commission, the Energy and Conservation Committee, the Housing Task Force and more. Before running for council, he had a long career in engineering and subsequently received a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Colorado, and in 2001 started a teaching career. He has taught physics, chemistry and earth science at the University of Denver High School and Lakewood High School, retiring in 2017.