On Friday, Mar. 29, Governor Jared Polis released a statement declaring that Colorado would terminate a previous request that would have asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an extended deadline to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standard Attainment. The request would have given Colorado more time to comply with the guidelines set by the EPA regarding safe ground-level ozone.

However, the Polis administration concluded that ground-level ozone is presenting a problem in the state now. Therefore, delaying compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards would only exacerbate air quality issues that Colorado is facing, instead of preventing them. The statement out of the Colorado State Capitol said that there were 55 days last year that were deemed unsafe for people to go outside because of unsafe air conditions, more than half of the summer. Pollution, and more specifically ground-level ozone, presents dangers to people. Therefore, “Cleaner air saves us money on healthcare and reducing smog will lead to lower asthma rates and lower insurance premiums and out of pocket costs,” Polis said in the statement.

Colorado has been out of line with EPA air quality standards for nearly seven years. Colorado and Denver’s growing population, geographical specificities and booming oil and natural gas business have resulted in unsafe and irregular pollution. Governor Polis hopes to curtail that pollution and meet the EPA standards by working with the oil and gas industries to lower emissions and eventually rely completely on renewable energy.

Polis hopes to have met the National Ambient Air Quality Standard Attainment by the middle of summer in 2021.