Civitas Resources is required by ECMC ruling to consider an alternate location within the Town of Erie.

The Draco Well Pad, a 26-well project that would break ground in Weld County just outside of the Town of Erie and drill 5 miles horizontally into Boulder County, has been postponed indefinitely while Civitas Resources, Inc. conducts an alternative location analysis. 

The hearing scheduled for March 13 is now rescheduled for March 26. Those who wish to submit public comment can do so here under docket number 240100004 for the Draco Pad Oil and Gas Development Plan. 

The Energy and Carbon Management Commission ordered an indefinite stay on the Draco Oil & Gas Development Plan in November 2024, requiring the developers to pursue rezoning of Alternative Location 4 within Erie, south of the closed Denver Regional Landfill and west of the active Front Range Regional Landfill. 

The rezoning would give Erie jurisdiction over whether to approve or deny an application for the Draco Oil & Gas Development Plan. Because the current proposal is technically outside Erie town limits, the town has no sitting authority on the Draco pad, though it is the proximate local government, and has some influence on how the project proceeds. 

Prior to submitting an application for the site in January 2024, Extraction Oil and Gas — a subsidiary of Civitas Resources — evaluated 4 alternative locations in Boulder County and Erie but “determined that there were no feasible locations that were allowed by local regulations.” This included Alternative Location 4, which is back under consideration per the November ECMC ruling.  

Turnout from November’s ECMC hearing.

If Civitas comes to the conclusion that Alternative Location 4 is still infeasible, the Town of Erie will be requesting that the Draco OGDP be denied unless specific Conditions of Approval are ordered by the Commission, according to a March 5 statement from the Town of Erie. 

Erie has concerns about the safety and viability of both the current proposed site, which is in close proximity to Erie residents and Alternative Location 4, which is in an area with several pre-existing oil and gas pads and could have a cumulative impact on the nearby community, said Environmental Director David Frank. 

“What we’re really talking about is a pretty experimental site,” Frank told Yellow Scene Magazine. “These are the longest laterals ever attempted, they run under some 5000 homes there in western Erie.” 

According to a Prehearing Document from Civitas Resources, Extraction Oil and Gas met with Town of Erie Staff on Dec. 16, 2024, to discuss Town of Erie regulations, including how quickly the alternative location could be rezoned to approve drilling, which is ongoing as both parties gain more information about the site. 

“I would like to see proximal local governments have more involvement and more say in these locations that are immediately outside of our boundaries because we’ll get all of the effects with none of the control and oversight,” Frank said. 

Erie residents and town officials alike are worried about air quality impacts, disruptions from heavy machinery, and the use of extreme-reach horizontal wellbores at the site. 

The original proposal for the Draco Well Pad is also within 1,500 feet of five homes in the Westerly Neighborhood. In the next three years, 72 additional homes will be built within 2,000 feet of the Draco Well pad, which creates a time constraint that could push Civitas to try to complete drilling on an expedited timeline. 

2000 foot area affected by the proposed site.

Jeff Annable, Manager for Well and Location Permitting at Extraction Oil & Gas, submitted a Consolidated Public Comment Response in August 2024 that addresses water use, the existence of 49 plugged and abandoned wells in the proposed drilling site, air quality, extreme-reach wellbores and other health and quality of life concerns. 

The document largely points to Civitas Resources’ expertise in oil and gas drilling, adherence to state and local regulations, and additional strategies that would be used at the Draco site to offset negative impacts, such as a 32-foot full-wrap sound wall to reduce aesthetic and noise pollution. 

“We’ll see what the commission says. We’ve done the best we can with the hand we were dealt to try to serve our residents and safeguard their health and well-being and quiet enjoyment of their homes,” Frank told YS. 

The hearing can be attended here with Meeting ID: 814 1297 9750 

The post Draco Well Pad Hearing Postponed with Location Analysis Underway appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Fighting the machine

Nick Saia lives in Colorado now, but he grew up on the salt marshes and estuaries of the Mississippi. He recalled swamp fishing, rabbit hunting, and boating out by the shack he and his father frequented. His memories of the outdoors, sharing time with his dad, and interacting with the mercurial tides where the river meets the ocean painted a vivid picture as he recalled his childhood. Then his tone changed. “My father told me one day this would all be gone.”

Even then, as a child, he saw the encroaching oil and gas operations that would forever change the face of the Gulf of Mississippi, dotting her face with pimples of oozing black pus. Saia saw the receipts, literally. He stayed busy as a busboy and later as the manager of his father’s restaurant. There he recalled seating and serving both oil and gas company men and local politicians where the sticky black substance lubricated the wheels of business and politics.

These twin memories of growing up — of seeing the marshland drained and tamed and witnessing the way politics and energy companies worked behind the scenes — inspired Saia to pursue a career as an attorney defending the average person. Many of his cases involved death, serious injury, and maiming of oil and gas workers.

Saia’s story began in Louisiana, but his career brought him to Colorado. Since the ‘90s he has represented Coloradoans who have been injured or received property damage from oil and gas sites. Saia’s observations about the dual harms of oil and gas in Louisiana are all too evident in Colorado. Vast environmental damage and overly friendly connections to politicians abound here as well.

Environmental damage and health impacts

Saia moved to Colorado for the environment. Most people do. Coloradoans, those born here and those who’ve made their home here, know the importance of open space, preservation, and balance in nature. Unfortunately, tales just like Saia’s have played out all across the nation but especially in Weld County, Colorado.

For years, both extraction operations and residential growth have been occurring side by side, meaning people are living closer than ever to fracking sites. Weld County experienced a population boom just as oil and gas operations were expanding alongside it. The County proudly proclaims directly on its website that they are “the number one producer of oil and gas in the State 83% of all crude oil production and 55% of all natural gas production in Colorado comes from Weld County!” Maps of extraction operations clearly show the impact of political decisions on where permits are granted. Weld County is covered in sites.

The number of sites, the number of wells, and the density of their locations add to a high health risk with groundwater pollution, noise pollution, and chemical byproducts from extraction, all playing harmful roles. Recent research from the CU Boulder Environmental Engineering Program found that “The chemical composition of the leaks in the Greater Wattenberg Area show that most are coming from failures of well pipes or cement, not natural stray gas migration. While the study only looked at oil and gas wells, the ability to conclusively show failure in an inner pipe or cement has major implications.” This means leaks and contamination are most likely from failures in extraction sites, a risk that even capped and closed wells still possess.

Politics, business, health, and the environment all coincide in one sticky problem: oil and gas operations are profitable but cause damage to those around them. Where new wells were located, where old wells are re-opened, and how fast leaks and contamination are cleaned are all influenced by money in the political system.

A tale of two counties

In 2019, Senate Bill 19-181 was passed which allowed local municipalities to adopt regulations for extraction operations, including things like setbacks — how far away operations must be from sensitive sites like homes and schools. Most counties have chosen to increase setback distances, and while the overall impact of the bill has been greatly beneficial to public health, not all counties have followed suit. “Weld County hasn’t met an oil well operation it doesn’t like,” said state Sen. Mike Foote, a sponsor of SB-181.

Recent reporting has also shown that even when residents thought extraction sites were finished, operations can resume with little to no warning. Additionally, if a well has already been sunk, current setback requirements from SB-181 do not apply. This grandfathers in a significant amount of sites and will continue to present a severe health hazard for any who live nearby.

“Local governments are not uniform, but they [setbacks] range from like 2,000 to 3,000 feet. Arapahoe County passed a 3,000 foot setback recently, but it also has exceptions,” Foote explained.

It’s not just the extraction operations — clean-up and decommissioning of sites can spread contaminants. About half of “orphaned” wells remaining to be plugged across the state are located in Weld County. So-called orphaned wells are defined as “…a well for which no owner or operator can be found, or where such owner or operator is unwilling or unable to plug and abandon such well.” This may be due to the company going out of business or being unable to afford the cost of plugging operations.

Storage tanks for crude oil in central Colorado, USA

In March 2024, Adams County filed a lawsuit that claimed oil and gas companies used a massive fraud scheme to avoid cleaning up abandoned wells that the lawsuit stated is, “to this day, endangering Coloradans.”

“The lawsuit raises serious questions about industry-wide practices in general that deserve an answer,” Denver7 quoted an attorney from the case. Companies allegedly knew the cost of cleanup but did not set aside nearly enough profits to cover the mandated cleanup expenses and then filed for bankruptcy, leaving no one financially responsible for the sites while executives and investors walked away wealthier than before.

Not every county is pushing back. In 2019, Weld County commissioners directly responded to SB-181 by declaring parts of the county an “area of state interest” for oil and gas operations. Based on a 1974 House bill, this move allowed Weld County commissioners to continue approving permits that would be blocked in other counties.

Oil and gas companies often promote the idea that new regulations will kill jobs in a state like Colorado, and a county like Weld, that produces lots of energy. “Every time there’s a regulation proposal, they talk about how it’s a job killer and how if the regulation passes, they will move out of the state … it’s too bad that some people continue to buy into it … they still produce a heck of a lot in this state regardless of the regulations,” Foote noted.

As proof, despite Adams County’s increased regulations, the industry is thriving, propelling Adams to the second-highest producer in the state behind Weld.

Influence on local politics

Yellow Scene Magazine conducts a yearly election guide where our reporters speak to candidates for all elections across the areas of the state we cover. We have interviewed hundreds of politicians, activists, incumbents, and folks who decided to run for office for the first time. One of the main topics that constantly arises in local elections is oil and gas regulation, expansion, and mitigation. Many have expressed their concerns that oil and gas companies tip the scales in favor of pro-extraction candidates, creating an undemocratic environment that is driven by money over citizen interest. This is a political reason why some areas have more health hazards than others despite similar oil and gas resources underground.

“The oil companies have made millions of dollars in Thornton … millions they would not have made otherwise. And that’s why they invest in [REDACTED]. That’s why thousands of dollars come from oil representatives, from people who work in oil companies, and not to mention the dark money that gets flooded in by the same companies because [REDACTED] is their investment that pays off for them,” a local activist told YS.

Anadarko Drilling in Dacono. Photo: Denver Post

“While the other side has boatloads of cash coming from special interests, specifically, land developers and oil and gas, and everybody knows it … I shouldn’t say everybody. A lot of people don’t even realize it. But the people who are interested in trying to serve all notice,” one local candidate expressed their frustration.

“We’re really heavily influenced by oil and gas and developers. For a while, it was mostly oil and gas. Now it’s developers too. We have to figure out some ways to balance that out,” a sitting city council member shared.

“I think the biggest thing is that residents deserve a campaign finance system that’s transparent and fair. We want a democracy where everyone’s voice is heard and everyone is playing by the same rules. Our current system, it’s not,” a representative said. “We don’t have the financial limits. The disclosure requirements and practices aren’t strong enough or user-friendly to be meaningful, and we need to ensure that our political leaders are representing the interests of residents and not just the wealthy and powerful,” they continued.

Even without undue influence, the political scales are tipped in favor of those who have resources, money, and workforce. It is much easier for a corporation to raise funds, sponsor ads, and donate money to local politicians than it is for the activists and regular folks who wish to stop them. There is a monetary reward for extraction companies succeeding that vastly overshadows the cost of paying politicians to play ball.

“They’re able to play in many different areas. They’re able to pay contributions. They’re able to hire a lot of attorneys. They’re able to hire folks that will show up in meetings. They’re able to come up with astroturf organizations. They’re able to run measures. They’re able to do all of these things which affect policy that community groups and environmental groups just can’t match. So when you combine things, you get a much bigger megaphone that they can use,” Foote elaborated.

Still from “Fracking the System.” Provided by Brian Hedden

Past wins and future fights

One notable success story is that of Brian Hedden. Hedden is an activist who filmed a protest of extraction operations at an oil and gas site near a school in Greeley. Details of the incident and subsequent lawsuit are posted on Hedden’s website. One protestor chained themselves to a piece of machinery, physically blocking operations from resuming. Hedden himself filmed the actions but did not block any machinery. However, he was still treated as a protestor by law enforcement.

Hedden was arrested by the police on behalf of the oil and gas company, with an eventual offer to drop all charges if he agreed to never release the footage he filmed. Saia represented Hedden in the lawsuit brought on by Extraction Oil & Gas in 2018.

Extraction argued that Hedden had also violated the airspace above the site by flying a drone to capture aerial footage. The judge was not amused by that idea and responded by asking Extraction if they were also an airport. The typically quiet and somber mood of the court was rocked by laughter from a crowd of activists there to support Hedden. With Hedden’s case, Saia finally had his “Atticus Finch” moment of fighting for a just cause with crowds of public support. The civil lawsuit was dropped.

Despite interference, influence, and wealth that extraction lobbies bring, wins like SB-181, and Hedden’s dropped lawsuit show there is hope. However, with the dangers of powerful lobbies, nearly unlimited money, and an intricate understanding of how to navigate the system, the odds are still very much stacked against the activists. This election season may be an important one in particular, with both activists and extraction companies looking at an air quality proposal in the Colorado legislature. 

There is a potentially even larger picture looming following a curious move by oil and gas companies who filed a ballot measure to ban all oil and gas drilling in the state. Although no one is yet sure why, the move may be an effort to have ballot initiatives themselves ruled unconstitutional rather than representing a change of heart on environmental issues from extraction interests.

Foote shared the difficulty of working against a powerful lobby: “It’s really tough as an all-volunteer community to go up against highly paid, highly trained [oil and gas companies]. Difficult doesn’t mean it can’t be done. But the deck is definitely stacked against you.”. It’s not all bad news, there have been huge improvements in statewide and local regulations.

“Where we found success has been a combination of volunteers, grassroots groups plus organizations that have some resources to draw from, so it’s not [fighting] with both hands behind our back but maybe with one hand tied behind our back,” Foote said.

The post Examining Oil & Gas’ Political Influence on the Front Range appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Car-centric models of development create urban sprawl and make planning bus routes to low density areas more difficult.

Riding the JUMP

Cities across the United States are dealing with pressure to offer more public transit services. The Denver metro area is no exception to this. The Front Range has grown at an unprecedented rate over the last 20 years causing traffic to become much worse. Freeways like Interstate 25 are parking lots during rush hour.

Climate change is another reason to provide alternative modes of transportation. According to the Colorado GHG Pollution Reduction Roadmap Final Report, transportation is the largest producer of greenhouse gas pollution across the state. The report states, “Nearly 60% of these emissions come from light-duty vehicles — the majority of cars and trucks that Coloradans drive every day.” The state of Colorado sees our need to convert from combustion engines to electric alternatives, creating goals in the fight against climate change. With such a climate-focused population, Coloradoans need to demand more solutions to our car-centric model of transportation.

Despite Colorado’s attempt to race further and further ahead to meet these goals, consistent public transportation for Boulder County and North Metro is severely lacking. For instance, the town of Erie, located about 15 miles southeast of Boulder, contains a single bus route — the JUMP.

The JUMP starts out at the Downtown Boulder Station on Walnut Street and takes a trip down Arapahoe Avenue traveling east toward Erie. After arriving, the bus heads to the main stop at the Erie Community Center before turning around and heading southwest to Lafayette, and then back to the Downtown Boulder Station. There are limited options to get to neighboring communities like Lafayette and Longmont, and there are no connections to go east to communities like Thornton or Brighton.

To travel east of Erie you would need to take the JUMP to Boulder. In Boulder you’d hop onto one of the Flatiron Flyers to head down Highway 36 and then finally take a bus east to Thornton. This makes a car the much faster option to travel anywhere east of the city despite the rapid population growth and traffic congestion we’ve seen in these communities.

Despite Colorado’s attempt to race further and further ahead to meet these goals, consistent public transportation for Boulder County and North Metro is severely lacking.

Unfortunately, there are no signs to indicate a push for an increase in ridership from these already limited stops. When I visited the bus stop at the Erie Community Center, it was barren. Surrounded by a beautiful library, recreation center, and park with fields, the bus stop showed little indication of its potential use.

There was no structure to protect riders from the elements. The facility’s map didn’t have any indication of a bus stop. There wasn’t even a schedule to see when the next bus was going to arrive. Not to mention, there was no indication where the JUMP goes. Without any of these, each step of taking the bus would require extensive research beforehand to make any trip as smooth as possible.

The average rider would need to have the time to explore the different options before coming to the bus stop. This would need to account for all the time researching, getting to, and riding the bus. The economic component of taking public transit bleeds into this as well, meaning, “What type of ticket is best for me? Is there a stop close enough to ride my bike or walk? If I have a car, is there a spot for me to park near the station? Do I have enough money to travel where I need to today?” There is the assumption that with most of these questions, the user has access to the internet reliably. It also assumes, this person is able to walk, ride, or use a car.

RTD’s role in Boulder

The Regional Transportation District has been providing public transportation services to the Denver metro area for 54 years through a series of bus and rail routes. The district serves the communities of eight Colorado counties including Boulder County.

Boulder is the most populous city in the county with over 100,000 residents, and the city contains Colorado’s flagship university campus with an undergraduate population of 30,000 students — causing a massive influx of residents for nine months out of the year.

The city’s public transportation system is more robust than many metro areas with buses to connect you to every major part of the city. Popular destinations like Pearl Street, surrounding downtown areas, and the university’s campus are easily accessible from multiple routes. CU Boulder even has their own transportation system offering an Uber-like option around campus as well as their own buses.

Flatiron Flyer regional buses connect Boulder to the rest of Denver Metro including Denver’s Union Station, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and Denver International Airport. Yet, the county’s remaining municipalities — Erie, Lafayette, Superior and Longmont — do not have robust transportation systems in place.

Manager of corridor operations, Doug Monroe, assured there were programs in place to incentivize more ridership with two main ways to go about it — financial incentives and services provided.

RTD’s EcoPass program, employer passes, and college passes offer rides at a huge discount. Other financial incentives Monroe pointed to include RTD’s monthly pass options.

However, the real incentives lie in RTD’s service. Monroe notes, “I think that’s more difficult to quantify and, I guess, tell how that’s actually impacting things because we serve a huge area. We serve 2,340 square miles, and we’re collecting sales taxes on that whole area, and we’re trying to provide as much service to as many people within that area as possible.”

He explained that based on the feedback given to RTD, people overlook the financial aspects of the process, focusing instead on an increase in the number of services offered.

Expanding service

Unfortunately, simply providing an all-encompassing service is not an option due to the organization’s own financial constraints for projects, workforce, and land use.

RTD was able to provide details of the district’s choices on planning the routes for these areas. Nataly Handlos is senior service planner and scheduler for RTD on the North Team. Handlos works closely with service planner Greg Filkin. Together these two outlined some of the barriers RTD faces when planning service routes. The sheer sprawl of the communities in the northern corridor makes public transportation planning more difficult.

Unfortunately, simply providing an all-encompassing service is not an option due to the organization’s own financial constraints for projects, workforce, and land use.

Public transit is mostly designed for high-density areas. Consequently, the low-density suburban housing of the northern service area makes it difficult for RTD to create routes. Additionally, there are no attractions within Erie’s town limits that would constitute the creation of a robust public transit system.

Handlos states, “They are a suburban community, right? They don’t have a downtown. They don’t have a destination per se. You have to have an origin and destination in order to establish a strong transit corridor, and they do not have that. To build out a full transit network — such as in Boulder — would not make sense for Erie, or even Louisville and Lafayette.”

Cities in the northern corridor build out without little regard for the transit system and expect RTD to provide services without building the infrastructure that can accommodate routes.

The premise of this logic makes sense and has recently been echoed by state officials like Governor Polis. Building high-density housing is just one way to build stronger transit systems, but the main resource making these systems successful are the people who need them regardless of the type of housing in a given area.

As a service for people, the main priority should not be on how these systems can make money. Instead they need to focus on the real world wants and needs of people. Greater access to bus routes provide more opportunity for people in need. More employment opportunities would present themselves to people without their own cars; you could live in one area and reliably work in another with expanded bus access.

Planning new routes can be lengthy, and decisions are based on the resources RTD has at hand. Municipalities will typically come to RTD asking the organization to look at its proposals. Once the proposals are modified, there is a public process where a service change is put forth.

The service change process at RTD takes shape three times a year — January, May, and August. These proposals are brought to the public for feedback which is then used by RTD to look into financial impacts on the area, resources, and equity of service.

Planning new routes can be lengthy, and decisions are based on the resources RTD has at hand.

Handlos asserts, “What is equitably compared to the rest of the street? So, we can’t just add service in one area and not add service in the other areas. So if something were to be added in the Boulder area, I’d have to look to my partners in the East and West Team[s], ‘Hey, do you have anything that you can add?’”

The approach allows for the deep, meaningful work attributed to providing services to people disenfranchised through systemic factors of racism and ableism, but the method takes years of planning — delaying needed services. New routes cannot be adopted at this rate to fix any issues caused by our car-centric society. Once the proposal has made it past this stage of scrutiny, it makes its way to a board who votes for or against the service change. Although, this is all determined in the end by RTD’s available resources.

Bus drivers wanted

RTD has been dealing with an operator shortage since 2015. The shortage was only made worse by COVID-19. Even if a service change has all other resources, there is a lack of sufficient staffing to make new routes or provide route extensions.

Currently, RTD is using a guide known as the System Optimization Plan to strategize its service implementation through 2027 and projects it will have 85% of pre-COVID resources by 2027. Using this projection, the district is making preemptive moves to allocate and implement new services throughout the remaining period. This plan does rely on a bit of optimism. These are merely projections and would expect patrons to wait out the rest of the decade for the possibility of new services.

One of the more notable efforts is the CO 119 BRT project to add faster and safer services for commuters between Longmont and Boulder. The project looks to include proposals for new transit stops between the two cities as well as a new Park-n-Ride station and a commuter bikeway.

Additionally, Monroe points to the Northwest Rail Peak Service Study being undertaken by RTD to provide rail extensions to the north Denver metro area including Boulder and Longmont. Proposed service would extend the existing commuter rail service B Line from Union Station using existing BNSF rail lines. The project works as a commitment to the voter-approved FasTracks plan of 2004, which has been struggling with financial funding for the last 19 years. Projects like the Northwest Rail Peak Service Study, however,’ will not put trains on tracks. The study has three main goals: providing updated engineering cost estimates, designing infrastructure for the system to include future sprawl, and aligning RTD with the goals of stakeholders in the project but with no set date to start service.

There have already been success stories. Route 228 had a successful reconfiguration to serve the city of Lafayette in a more effective and equitable manner. Handlos added, “With Lafayette, the 228 extension was one of those, ‘How can we try and serve that area better?’ to route connection that was needed between the low-income housing and Kestrel and you know, Walmart and Sister Carmen for instance. We were able to get it into the SOP to get route extensions for the DASH and the 225 to the new low-income housing that’s being built at 120th and Emma.”

It is important to include the extension of these routes so people in lower income areas can access transportation and continue to advocate for themselves. Previous to the 228 extension, existing routes did not extend to Lafayette’s low income communities. This created a lack of accessibility. Time is another finite resource needed to get from A to B, to attend a meeting, or develop a sense of community  — time that could be used as a means to pay for food or bills.

Projects will be carried out when the resources to make, operate, and support new transit are available: There needs to be operators. The land being used must be zoned properly. The money to build and sustain this infrastructure must be at RTD’s disposal. There must be a push from members of the public.

Conversely, potential passengers may be deterred from taking the bus because of its price. Even with financial incentives provided by the RTD, commuting can be a pricey affair. A local day pass gives you access to travel within one or two fare zones and costs $6 or $42 per week. A regional day pass is $10.50 or $73.50 a week.

Though the monthly passes are considerably cheaper, it could still be difficult to purchase one living paycheck to paycheck. A local monthly pass comes in at $114, and the monthly regional pass is $200 at full price.

Other perks, like the college pass, leave students who are full-time during the academic year  without a pass if they remain during the summer months. Even business passes can be distributed based on your hourly status at work. Part-time employees often receive fewer  benefits and may not meet their organization’s eligibility requirements for passes.

After its recent launch of an extensive fare study, RTD appears to be aware of these barriers to increasing ridership, marking community involvement as a priority when dealing with issues. While recommendations that came out of the study are slated to become a reality in 2024, Handlos, Filkin, and Monroe stated multiple times that getting opinions from the public is a priority in the implementation of any services.

Getting involved might be one of the best ways to advocate for better service in your area. Riders have the ability to carry weight in a conversation that involves stakeholders and local governments. Time and resources can make it difficult to get involved in this capacity, but RTD has embraced transparency in this process.

Riders have the ability to carry weight in a conversation that involves stakeholders and local governments.

Each of the projects mentioned above can be accessed on their website with goals and outcomes or expected outcomes. These pages include the status of a project, the background information to understand the intent of a project, and potential timelines for service implementation.

Finding projects and routes within your area could prove to be a difficult task. The district covers a vast network spanning over 2,000 square miles, but the Community Involvement page could make this task easier.

There are multiple options to engage with RTD on the page. A calendar provides dates, times, and locations when the organization plans to interact with the public. Many modes of communication exist on the page from an online Customer Comment Form to contacting your representative on the RTD Board of Directors. Resources to stay informed and information on RTD making an appearance or presentation at an event also exist on this page.

Commuters on the Front Range deserve better transit services across the expanding metro area. RTD strives to provide these services for the people, but in an area that’s years behind in dealing with pressing issues, are its efforts, even after creating an SOP extending into 2027, enough?

The post Why Is It so Hard to Take the Bus Anywhere but to Boulder? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Eric Galatas
Public News Service (via AP Storyshare)

A new study mapping methane pollution across five oil and gas production basins in states including Colorado found a small number of sites account for a disproportionately high level of overall pollution.

Jon Goldstein, senior director of regulatory and legislative affairs for the Environmental Defense Fund, one group behind the study, said nearly 40% of emissions are coming from what are sometimes referred to as “super emitter” sites.

“So these are big leaks, these are big problems,” Goldstein asserted. “What that means, though is that if we can find them and fix them, we can get a handle on this problem pretty quickly.”

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release national standards to limit methane pollution at oil and gas sites as soon as this fall. Some critics of rules, including those passed in Colorado requiring oil and gas operators to find and fix leaks and reduce flaring, have argued the cost of implementation can be prohibitive, especially for smaller operators.

Methane is 80 times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide and is a major contributor to climate change. It is also the primary component of natural gas.

Goldstein pointed out companies benefit by capturing emissions and bringing more gas to market. He said the International Energy Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency and regulators in states with strong emission standards reached similar conclusions on the rules’ economic impacts.

“And again, those state-level regulators have also found these rules to be very cost-effective,” Goldstein noted. “I think the balance of the information from an economic standpoint is on the cost-effectiveness and the wisdom of getting these sorts of standards in place.”

Goldstein emphasized there is a critical need for ongoing, open-source monitoring of methane emissions at local and regional scales to guide efforts to reduce pollution. He added the study’s findings strongly suggest federal regulators should model new rules on successful standards at work in states including Colorado.

“We’re finding less super emitters in the states that have been getting strong standards in place,” Goldstein stressed. “That’s a really good headline for EPA to see as they’re working to try and get similar standards in place across the U.S.”

The post New Maps Expose Methane ‘Super-Emitter’ Sites appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

by Garrett Looker

Two years ago, as the world began to change and the COVID-19 pandemic circled the globe, Heidi Leathwood began to change her personal world. With the ideas of sustainability, environmental protection, and a greener future, Leathwood found herself altering what many consider to be a vital part of life. She stopped driving—completely. 

In those two years, Leathwood has continued to put down miles behind her, whether by foot or by bike. For further stretches, such as visiting her mother, Leathwood has been unshaken, relying on public transportation for longer distances. 

Leathwood, a climate policy analyst with 350 Colorado, and others know the concept of transportation is inherently intertwined with renewable energy and sustainability, and it is one that is specifically outlined in the Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, a plan created following HB19-1261, the climate action plan to reduce pollution. As dictated in that bill, the Colorado General Assembly put into motion plans to reduce 2025 greenhouse gas pollution by at least 26% compared to 2005 levels. The bill also states that levels must be lowered 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. 

Political action such as this suggests Colorado presents itself as a forward-thinking state that values supporting and safeguarding vital ecosystems. However, the latest 2020 Eco-Cycle and Colorado Public Interest Research Group report found Colorado is not meeting its recycling and composting goals and “remains one of the 20 most wasteful states.” Moreover, Colorado has continuously endorsed and funded environmentally integrated bicycle and pedestrian greenways but continues to allocate major portions of transportation funding to highway renewal and expansion. Colorado is adept at cultivating ecological literacy and promoting eco-friendly lifestyles overall, but the Centennial State merely models the skills to be environmentally conscious. Contributing to the comprehensive reduction of climate change is an area in which the state of Colorado falls short.

In a 2021 study, Colorado ranked No. 9 in eco-friendly behaviors but No. 25 as a climate-change contributor (Wallet Hub).

This begs the question, how can Colorado effect measurable change and significantly decrease its overall contribution to climate change? While Boulder and Denver are examples in creating greenways and bike paths, both cities lack a number of walkable neighborhoods—Boulder maintains a median Walk Score of 56, and Denver has an average Walk Score of 61. Walk Score is an online website that rates and scores neighborhoods and cities across America on walkability. These two cities are ranked in the middle tier of scoring at “somewhat walkable.” Compared to a car-dependent community, a walkable neighborhood diminishes greenhouse gas emissions by four tons yearly. Colorado’s environmental goals could be met by generating walkable neighborhoods throughout its more sizable cities, yet it has largely failed to do so. Solutions to create more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods may be on the horizon.

The issue of climate change is rooted in the very idea of who American citizens are and specifically, what they drive, Molly McKinley, policy director of Denver Streets Partnership claims. 

“It’s something I think about all the time,” McKinley said. “We can’t have our cake and eat it too. We can’t make the critical change that we need to. We really need to make a fundamental shift in how we move around our communities if we’re going to meet these goals.”

The fight against climate change and achieving the goals set out in Colorado’s roadmap can only be won by drastically altering the standard way of living and traveling, according to Rachel Hultin of Bicycle Colorado. 

“To me, when you get people out of cars and walking and biking in their communities, you’re making communities better today,” Hultin said. “But what you’re really doing is making the investment for future generations.”

To Hultin, community is tied to how individuals feel about their place—and specifically, how dedicated they feel to making it better.

For her, once people step out from behind the wheel of their car, they become closer to the lives around them. 

“Community—it’s a group of people who feel connected by place,” Hultin continued. “And they may or may not know who’s in their community, but the connection to place connects them. And transportation is inherently connected to place. When you get out of your car and you don’t have a windshield, and whether you’re walking or riding a bike, you have a more sensory experience, and your brain actually processes your experience in a more humanized way.”

Acknowledging that fossil fuels are an antiquated energy source, America has seen a significant shift in the development of electric vehicles across the country. On the national front, Ford Motors recently announced plans to reorganize its manufacturing divisions with Ford Blue, which creates the traditional internal combustion engine, and Ford Model E, which develops battery electric vehicles. John Deere has obtained a majority interest in Kreisel Electric, Inc., an Austrian company specializing in renewable battery energy. Colorado’s own Governor Jared Polis has continued to assert his commitment to a goal of 940,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, there are approximately 49,271 electric vehicles registered in the state currently. 

The state’s pollution reduction roadmap will focus on encouraging Coloradans to turn to electric vehicles as well as electrifying city and state vehicle fleets. Efforts such as this are to continue past the 2025 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26%. So much so, by 2050, the roadmap plans to have approximately 100% of all vehicles on Colorado streets be electric. In March 2022, Colorado released plans to introduce all-electric, 18-wheeler trucks to the streets of Denver. This effort pairs with Governor Polis’ encouragement for his constituents to purchase electric vehicles.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the state’s “Clean Truck Strategy would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by at least 45% in Colorado by 2050.”

However, “They just now kicked the Clean Trucks rule-making into 2023 when it was originally for 2022,” Leathwood said. 

More action and comprehensive planning is to come, according to Timothy Hoover, Colorado Department of Transportation communications integration lead, but he cautioned that this is still in the early stages. 

As of Jan. 2022, the United States has almost 113,600 charging outlets for plug-in electric vehicles.

There are three levels of electric charging stations. Level 1, chiefly for home use; Level 2, private and public usage at no charge to the public; and Level 3, direct current fast charge, which can replenish an electric vehicle battery in an hour or less at a cost to the car owner. The Colorado Energy Office fast-charging electric vehicle corridors project comprises 34 fast-charging stations across the state. Remarkably, 20 Level 2 electric vehicle chargers will be installed at state parks by the end of summer 2022, allowing visitors to the state of Colorado easier access to charging stations. While the addition of these charging stations is a step forward in promoting eco-friendly tourism, the move primarily aids affluent tourists to the state. The social disparity of ease of access to charging stations remains a hurdle for most Coloradans.  

“The National EV Charging Infrastructure program is a new formula funding source from the federal government to support the construction of a national network of 500,000 EV chargers along major interstates and highways,” Hoover said. “It’s one portion of part of the broader Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act signed by the President back in November. The goal is to allow for seamless EV travel across the entire country, leading to greater adoption beyond urban areas.” Hoover also stated that Colorado would receive an estimated $57 million in NEVI funds over the next five years.

The inconvenient truth that Hultin and others may subscribe to is that Coloradans, and most Americans, for that matter, can no longer rely on the most dominant mode of transportation of the last century if they are to reverse the trajectory of climate change.

Simply put, local activists believe the automobile—regardless if it is gasoline-powered or the more modern electric vehicle—is a form of transportation stuck in a bygone era. If Coloradans are to achieve a renewable and sustainable future, and if the state is to meet the goals of reducing emissions proposed by elected officials, these activists believe communities must embrace more modest modes of transportation, such as biking and public transportation.

“It’s not new age,” Hultin said. “If you look at transportation planning documents, for decades, what you hear from people when they do community input is ‘We want more access to more biking, walking, and transit.’”

“So communities have been asking for it for a long time. Bicycle Colorado is specifically working with elected officials across the Front Range to help people who are already elected and have a disproportionate influence over project selection and funding. We’re trying to activate those local leaders who actually know from their neighbors what their needs are and getting those local leaders to actually take action with their regional transportation.”

More than incremental numbers on a politician’s spreadsheet or the percentages that define Colorado’s waning dependency on coal, it is not only about meeting those goals, Hultin said. The uphill fight against climate change is an even more personal journey, one that Hultin believes is all about the speed at which we live our lives.  

McKinley believes the future of sustainability and renewable energy must come with a transition of mind and community. Without it, Colorado’s goals will not be met. 

“I think a lot about the concept of your car being freedom,” McKinley said. “If I’m driving, and I find myself on I-25 at rush hour, I just think about how people think that that’s freedom. It’s mind-blowing to me, and a lot of it comes down to, I think, imagination. We’re so caught up in our lives and moving so fast that we don’t take a second to say, ‘There’s got to be a better way.’ It’s slowing down that imagination to see that things can be different.”

There is a gaping disconnect between what constituents believe and what they do, McKinley said. In reality, she said, people don’t truly want to change. “That’s going to be our downfall. We’re talking the big talk, but we’re not doing the big do.”

Aside from transitioning to biking and public transit options, according to Leathwood and McKinley, electric vehicles may not even be as green as climate-minded drivers would hope.

Depending on where a Coloradan may be plugging in their electric vehicle, there is a potential they are still contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Colorado still pulls more than 70% of its energy from greenhouse gas-emitting sources such as coal and natural gas.

Conversely, energy from renewable sources have been growing over the last decade, specifically driven from solar and wind from the eastern half of the state. 

“I don’t know if I can put it into those terms, but we have far too many fossil fuel-fired plants,” Leathwood said. 

Data published by the EIA indicates that Colorado’s electricity is produced by four primary sources: coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, and non-hydroelectric renewable sources. Coal and natural gas account for 40.77% and 23.57% of Colorado’s electricity, respectively.

One innovative and measurable way that Colorado could potentially significantly reduce its carbon footprint is by continuing to build upon and encourage its relationship with Swisspod Technologies. The Switzerland-based transportation system currently uses its hyperloop model to transfer cargo or up to 30 passengers through a vacuum-sealed tube, reaching supersonic speeds in minutes with a carbon-neutral propulsion system. Swisspod has begun building a full-scale prototype for the hyperloop facility in Pueblo, Colorado. The company plans an hour-long test on the prototype in late summer 2022. The hyperloop prototype will measure energy consumption, carbon footprints, and speed.

There are already examples of the new age to be found across Colorado’s Front Range. Boulder, a city of more than 106,000, has led the charge on renewable, solar energy.

According to the City of Boulder Climate Initiatives spokesperson Emily Sandoval, there has been a concerted effort to equip city-owned buildings with solar panels. As reported by the city’s website, solar panels can be found on top of the visitor’s center, parking garages, city fire departments, and more.

The effort of electrifying Boulder via solar power is nearing capacity of city-owned land. The next step, according to Sandoval, is crucial in continuing the commitments to reducing greenhouse gases—encouraging private citizens to install solar panels on their properties. 

“We talk about resilience,” Sandoval said. “The thing I’m talking about here is combining all these technologies, leveraging them to their fullest extent possible, rethinking a bit of how we manage the grid. What you might have thought was out of reach a couple of years ago might be in reach now.” 

However, Sandoval suggested that the reality of climate protection may be different for individuals who live in Boulder, a place she jokingly estimated may have the most ecologists per capita in the world, compared to the rest of Colorado that is more dependent on coal and natural gas. 

Sandoval’s sentiment echoed a similar one of Hultin’s, who believes the fight against climate change is just that—not a fight against gridlocked politics, but a cohesive, persistent battle, with which citizens and government agencies are aligned.

“We’re not fighting anything right now,” Hultin said. “There’s a new status quo around the expectation for how transportation investments are actually addressing our current needs and preventing tomorrow’s problems. What we’ve really been a part of the last several decades is a very, very car-centric transportation planning process, in which projects that have been identified are from the get-go created around the idea that we need to increase efficiency for cars to move quickly through corridors.”

The complex issues that Coloradans face require complex and comprehensive solutions—solutions that address the intersectionality of communities, activists say.

30Pearl, a neighborhood project in the city of Boulder, is one example of a new approach that considers multiple levels of community that need to be addressed to lower greenhouse gas emissions. From considerations of walking and biking to where people live and work, 30Pearl promises to introduce diversified zoning in a pedestrian-centric neighborhood.

“Boulder has an extensive network of multimodal infrastructure that makes it easier to choose non-vehicular forms of travel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Samantha Glavin of the Boulder Communication and Engagement Department. “We have more than 300 miles of bikeways, including 73 miles of multi-use paths separated from streets and nearly 90 bicycle and pedestrian underpasses that allow bicyclists and pedestrians to cross busy streets without having to travel alongside car traffic. But we recognize that there’s even more work to be done. For people to choose walking, biking, or taking the bus instead of driving, those options have to be just as convenient as driving. This means having safe and easily accessible bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure located near where people live and work and that connects them with their daily destinations.”

Hultin circled back:

All in all, a greener future must be a slower future.

For 10 years now, she has dedicated her life to educating others on the benefits of bicycling and attempting to improve her community. After all, she is the mayor pro tem of Wheat Ridge. The true meaning of a slower life came to her when she realized her son could easily be hurt, or even killed, in a moment’s notice from an automobile. 

Because of this, communities must slow themselves down, Hultin believes, and when people slow down they begin to develop a stewardship for their place.

“Human nature, it develops a sense of accountability,” Hultin said. “When you experience your built environment, or you experience your community or place, through the human experience of not being in a car, it develops a sense of accountability.”

According to Hultin, once that happens, maybe people will begin to see all the good they can do, and all the change they can make in their world. 

The post End of the Road: Solving Colorado’s Climate Threats by Leaving Cars Behind appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

by Save Our Skies Alliance

Photo: depositphotos

It has been a difficult summer for those who enjoy Colorado’s beautiful outdoors. Front Range air quality deteriorated to “unhealthy” levels at least 18 times this year. That means that the EPA may move parts of the Front Range from the “serious” to “severe” category under their classification of non-attainment areas. All this has been made worse by the lung-damaging haze of wildfire smoke that obscures our blue skies.

Unfortunately, there is another toxin present in our air that few of us know about – LEAD!

Lead was prohibited in paint in 1978, and removed from the gas in our cars in 1996. But there remains a significant source of lead in the skies above us… it is in the aviation gas that smaller, piston engine (propeller) planes use. And, if you live anywhere near a Front Range airport, there is a huge source of this lead dust raining down on your home, schools, playgrounds and open space every day. A just-released study of the impact of lead-based fuels on children living near the Reid-Hillview airport in Santa Clara, CA clearly defines this hidden health risk. 

New Science on Lead in the Air

Results of this comprehensive and controlled 10-year analysis showed blood lead level increases in children living near the airport were similar to those seen in kids affected by the Flint, Michigan water crisis. While those who lived within a half mile of the airport were most affected, the peer-reviewed study showed that children living downwind from the airport had lead blood levels of .40 micrograms per deciliter higher than children living upwind from the airport. For context, lead levels detected during the peak of the Flint water crisis were between .35 and .45 micrograms per deciliter over baseline.

The study also examined levels during times of maximum exposure to air traffic for children within a half-mile of the airport and estimated an increase of .83 micrograms per deciliter at peak times – significantly higher than the levels seen in Flint.

Dr. Sammy Zahran, a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the Colorado School of Public Health, and the Mountain Data Group conducted this study. Zahran had previously investigated lead contamination of drinking water supplies in Flint. The Reid-Hillview study is available online at news.sccgov.org.

It turns out that the small size of lead exhaust from piston engine airplanes (13 nm average) has the potential of rapidly penetrating the lung defenses and gaining direct access to the brain through nasal passages (Griffith 2020). By contrast, most lead dibromide particles inhaled in the past from motor vehicle exhaust would have been flushed from the lungs by the mucosal system.

Save Our Skies Alliance (SOS) is a grassroots organization formed to represent citizens who are impacted by the noise, air, and lead pollution from Front Range airports. For more information on lead in the skies and how it may affect you, visit the Save Our Skies Alliance (SOS) website at: saveourskiesalliance.org.

The post Lead In The Sky: A Hidden Health Crisis | Community Corner appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Image via 9News

There are days when the state of air quality along the Front Range can be viewed with the naked eye. The brown cloud that blocks our mountain views is the result of particulate matter made by the reactions of sunlight with a variety of human produced emissions including nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). In addition, residents are breathing other pollutants that can’t be seen as easily.

Together, all of it can cause asthma, respiratory issues, and other illnesses. Experts believe the pollution is caused by myriad sources that include exhaust from cars, exhaust from other combustion engines, and the full range of oil and gas operations. This fact has been brought into sharp relief – across the nation – as pictures of skylines before and after lockdown have gone viral.

While it is one thing to visually detect poor air quality on the Front Range, it is another thing to understand exactly what’s going on and what’s happening to mitigate problems. The EPA’s Air Quality Index (AQI) provides some of this information. It offers air quality data that is based on observations collected by strategically placed monitors. On any given day, the AQI reports on both the air quality levels and exactly which types of harmful pollutants are present.

An array of actions has been put in place to mitigate issues identified through AQI readings and other research points. These remediations include fines, monitoring programs for polluters, and supportive programs like increased public transportation, carpool incentives, and pollution control device mandates for automobiles and industrial equipment.

In addition to these actions, something entirely new is helping to reduce human created pollution: the statewide COVID-19 stay-at-home order that was issued on March 26th. Though schools and businesses began to change operations or close in mid-March, the stay at home order dramatically lowered human activity. Notably, the rush hour traffic that’s a huge contributor to pollution has slowed to a near-trickle.

Are the typical responses to air quality issues working? Will the decrease in human activity due to the stay-at-home order make a difference? To answer these questions, we’ll look at what has happened so far on the Front Range, and then speak with experts who have been tracking the issue.

Where Air Quality Stood at The First Part of The Year

The Front Range didn’t enter 2020 on a high note in terms of air quality. On December 16th, 2019, the EPA announced through a press release that it reclassified and downgraded the Denver Metro/North Front Range ozone nonattainment area from a moderate level offender to a serious one. “A nonattainment area is one in which air quality does not meet the ozone standards set by the federal government,” according to Colorado.gov.

As a result, the state has been required to reduce its pollution by 2021; at the same time it increased the threshold for issuing permits. The stricter standards will require permits for industries that emit more than 50 tons of pollution a year instead of the previous 100-ton level.

In January of 2020, Environment Colorado released a report that was based on air quality data from the EPA. The report placed Colorado within the top ten high-population cities for poor air quality. According to Hannah Collazo, State Director for Environment Colorado, “often air quality can be out of sight, out of mind, but when you really dig into the data you can see how big of a threat it is to public health.”

At the end of March, the bad news about Front Range air quality continued. The EPA provided preliminary findings for its AQI numbers for 2019. These numbers showed that throughout the entire year, the Front Range experienced just 100 days of acceptable air. Details show that 243 days were found to be in the range of 51 to 100, which reflects higher levels of environmental damage and lower air quality. Finally, 20 days came in at 101-150, which is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, with two days coming in at 150 to 200 which is considered unhealthy for all.

Causes of Current Air Quality Levels

Right now, there appear to be a few reasons why Colorado is losing ground in the effort to keep air quality high. One of them is that while vehicles are being made more cleanly, the state’s population is increasing. That leads to increased traffic congestion that offsets pollution reductions per vehicle.

At the same time, oil and gas production on the front range was large enough to affect air quality, though with impact from decrease in oil demands due to COVID-19 restrictions, and with dramatic global business impacts on the oil industry, this may change. With the level of industrial activity that took place until recently, substantially more VOCs are in the air from multiple parts of the production process. In addition to requiring permits for these companies so that they’re mandated to operate more cleanly, other remediations include requiring specific mechanical controls on buildings or industrial processes. These include wet scrubbers and condensers to remove pollutants from the exhaust stream.

A third contributor to poor air quality is the warmer temperatures that are being seen along the Front Range throughout the year. Both the sunlight and heat that are present on hotter days accelerate the presence of pollutants.

While the major categories of pollutants might be what you’d expect, we were curious about unexpected sources of pollution. Some of the state’s largest breweries play a role in pollution. Exhaust from flights (there are 79 public airports in Colorado. DIA is the second largest airport in the world and the activity from general airport operations at DIA contribute to problems, as do landfill activities.

According to Jeremy Nichols, Client and Energy Program Director at Wild Earth Guardians, these sources contribute, though they don’t approach, the impact of what the larger polluters and permit holders can do. He says that in the analysis he’s seen, “Fossil fuel production and consumption rises to the top on all fronts, whether its refining oil, or fueling jets or cars.”

Do Actions to Reduce Spread of COVID-19 Highlight the Role Personal Use In Finding Solutions?

As this human activity has slowed with the recent stay-at-home order, the Front Range may be feeling the effects in terms of improved air quality. Frank Flocke, a researcher from the Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling Laboratory at NCAR, reminded us that this is a unique chance to study what having people required to stay at home and reduce commuting times will do.

“Now there’s a natural experiment that’s taking place. It is an experiment that we normally can’t do,” Flocke said. It reminded him of what happened the week after 9/11, ”when there were no aircrafts in the air. People did look at satellite data then, though they couldn’t fly to certain areas for research.”

Anecdotally, individuals in major cities including LA (number one for poor air quality on the Environment Colorado report) and Denver are joyfully reporting on the views of their skylines. Some have remarked that the air is as clear as they’ve ever seen it in recent memory.

Is there hard data to support what people believe they are seeing visually? Some believe that there is. In Los Angeles, where commuter traffic has dramatically dropped, groups that regularly track and advocate for better air quality have made note of the fact that their AQI numbers have been regularly green since February. NASA satellites have observed the lessening of the pollution cloud over major cities in China, Italy, and France. Those kinds of images have been seen for Denver, too.

Easy to Visualize Elements May Not Tell the Whole Story

Flocke agrees that the stay-at-home order’s reduction on traffic is having a positive effect on air quality, but he’s careful to quantify what that impact is. That’s understandable as collecting and analyzing data never has been a straightforward endeavor. Even now, just as with 9/11, scientists are confined to their homes and restricted from doing too much field research.

In addition, researchers are contending with other barriers to their work – just has they always have. For example, Dr. Detlev Hemig, an associate researcher at CU Boulder’s Institute of Alpine and Arctic Research was let go from the university. He was relied upon to provide a ton of data for researchers to use and his presence will be missed.

Flocke does note that traffic counts, and corresponding levels of the pollutant nitrogen dioxide, are lower. At the same time, he cautions that people refrain from jumping to conclusions, saying that, “right now, everyone wants to know about air quality, but you can’t just do that over lunch or on the back of an envelope. It’s just not going to be meaningful.”

Part of the problem is that Front Range weather patterns pose a challenge to connecting the true causes of any changes in air quality at any given time. Detecting improvement in air quality numbers is tricky at this time of year, when cooler spring weather supports good air anyway. Typically, the higher numbers happen in the summer as longer days and hotter temperature are around to convert emissions into pollutants .

However, weather variables, which can occur at any time, make things trickier. For example, thanks to a warm weather temperature inversion, Denver’s brown cloud made a rare springtime appearance and on March 6th the AQI reached 151. In that case, better numbers seen this year rather than last year could simply be because last year was atypical.

In addition, researchers caution their colleagues and the public to reserve judgement about drawing a strong connection between NASA satellite images and improved air quality. They caution that these images may be the result of varying cloud formations rather than of gains in air quality. To get a better sense of what’s happening researchers would need to filter these images through more complete data analysis processes and observe them over longer periods of time.

True Benefits May Be Felt Over Time

Just because it is difficult to make a connection between air quality improvements and reduced human activity doesn’t mean there isn’t one. The complicated connection may just take time to establish. It’s important to allow for the ability to compare an appropriate data set over months or years and to consider all impacts on air quality.

It is also true that the longer the stay-at-home order lasts, the more data researchers will have on the order’s impact on air quality. For example, if less commuting traffic took place during the middle of summer, the AQI showed a string of green days representing cleaner air, the connection between traffic and pollution would be easier to prove.

Maintaining Air Quality Gains

If researchers can make a more direct connection between the statewide stay-at-home order and air quality gains, that’s important information for the public to have. It is possible, though, that understanding how we could improve air quality wasn’t ever the hard part. Maybe the biggest challenge was figuring out how to achieve and maintain fundamental behavior and regulatory change that results in healthier air for the long term.

Once quarantine is lifted, communities are likely to return to life as it was before. This isn’t surprising considering that even in the face of immediately impactful, life-threatening illness, it took weeks of communication from a variety of outlets and trusted public figures to encourage people to stay home. Behavioral change also required alterations in how school and business are conducted, and it came at the expense of many individuals’ livelihoods. At the time of this writing, in spite of all the information we had on mortality and infection rates, protests and marches for the freedom to go back to normal were spreading across the nation, including in Denver.

The toughest question may be how to motivate permanent change that is less restrictive but brings healthier outcomes. Encouraging more work from home flexibility or doing greater amounts of business locally would reduce the number of cars on the road, which could be a start. Other solutions could also include making ongoing improvements to emissions controls for industrial processes and stricter regulation across the range of industrial operations in Colorado.

Change isn’t ever easy but in the case of air quality it may be required to maintain community health.

The post Front Range Air Quality 2020: How Now Brown Cloud? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Since we’re no good at metric conversions, we have trouble figuring out how much dirty air 12 metric tons of carbon dioxide really is. According to Boulder County, it’s the equivalent of powering five moderately-sized homes a year. Or if you’re talking office space, it’s the amount of pollution that comes from lighting 90 typical fluorescent office light fixtures 10 hours per day, five days a week for a year. We’re happy that’s cleared up, and so is the air around the county courthouse. Last month, it unveiled a new 46-panel solar power system that will take those pesky 12 metric tons of pollution out of the air each year. Even better, the system will begin powering four plug-in hybrid cars that the county will buy in 2008 that will get 100 miles to the gallon. Now it’s not enough to save the world, but it’s nice to see a government taking the lead and setting a green example.

The post BoCo Going Green appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.