A new rule, requiring 82% of new car and truck sales in Colorado to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2032, could begin to turn the tide on the state's persistent unhealthy air quality.

The transportation sector is the largest contributor to ground-level ozone, a potent combination of pollutants with particulates small enough to lodge in lungs.

Sarah Clark - a lead organizer at the Sierra Club - said ozone contributes to multiple health issues, including asthma, lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and even premature death.

"Air pollution and ozone threatens public health across Colorado," said Clark, "particularly in communities struggling with poverty and communities of color where folks are more likely to live near busy highways, refineries, and oil and gas production sites."

Aurora and Denver have the sixth highest average number of ozone alert days in the nation, according to the American Lung Society, with other Front Range cities not far behind.

Ozone pollution causes over one million premature adult deaths each year, with children and older residents most at risk.

The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association says it was optimistic about the Air Quality Control Commission's rule - which bumps targets of EV sales from 25% to 51% by 2028, and 68% by 2030.

EVs accounted for 17% of sales between July and August of this year.

Clark said governments and utility companies are also investing billions to create a network of charging stations.

"Automakers know the transition is happening, and that's why we're seeing big commitments to expanding the number of zero emission vehicles around the country," said Clark. "There's actually a surprising amount of excitement and momentum from the auto industry."

Some critics of the new rule wanted Colorado to follow California's more ambitious goal requiring 100% of vehicles on dealership lots to be zero-emissions by 2035.

The commission will revisit the rule in 2029. Clark believes Colorado's 82% requirement is a good first step.

"This rule is a crucial step in meeting the goal of two million EVs on the road to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Clark. "We look forward to 2029 when we can come back and adopt the full 100% rule."

Groups that fight for environmental justice are praising the Biden administration's decision to grant California a waiver so it can implement clean-car rules that exceed federal standards.

California's rules would ban the sale of new gas-powered cars after 2035 and require trucks to further clean up their exhaust.

Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, data analytics advisor for the nonprofit GreenLatinos, said the new standards will help clean up the air in low-income areas overburdened by truck traffic.

"Latino communities are more likely to be located near highways, near shipping centers, near freight distribution centers, and therefore they're more susceptible to air pollution from vehicles," she said.

This fight has been going on for many years. President-elect Donald Trump rescinded California's clean-car waivers during his first term. A judge reinstated them. Then the state sought a waiver for a stronger set of rules - which Biden has now granted. And now Trump has vowed to revoke them again.

Auto industry groups predict EV sales won't keep up with the new rules, which call for 35% of all new cars to be electric by next year.

Marpillero-Colomina added that California's waiver could trigger protections in many other states.

"The granting of the California waivers not only affects Californians - it affects Latino communities in the 11 other states that have enacted or are planning to enact equivalent state policies, and so that represents millions and millions of those people," she continued.

She noted that low-income Latino communities, especially those near the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, have higher rates of asthma linked to air pollution.

Environmental groups are calling for the immediate closure of Los Angeles County's Walnut Creek Energy Park, because of potentially dangerous levels of emissions.

A new report finds the gas-fired power plant has repeatedly shown levels of nitrogen oxide that are close to, or above, national air-quality standards.

The report, commissioned by the Sierra Club and the California Environmental Justice Alliance, lists Walnut Creek as the highest-risk facility in the state - among eight other gas-fired power plants.

Jordan Salcido, a community organizer with the LA County Youth Climate Commission, lives within a mile of the plant.

She said many of her neighbors might not realize how close they are to these pollutants.

"There definitely is a cluster of industry," said Salcido, "but it's right in the heart and in the center of people's lives and where they live and work and play and raise their families."

The Environmental Protection Agency says exposure to nitrogen oxide may contribute to the development of asthma, increased risk of respiratory infections and can lead to hospital visits.

The community around the plant, which is 80% Hispanic, already faces some of California's highest pollution levels.

The report says a nearby railroad, warehouses, and the 60 Freeway likely add to the nitrogen oxide emissions in the area.

Salcido said she has heard plenty of stories of neighbors getting sick, even before the plant opened.

"They've seen generations of family members have chronic illnesses and asthma and cancer," said Salcido. "And so, they know firsthand what that's like."

The report says part of the problem is that public access to information and emissions data from California gas plants is limited.

Salcido said community members have a lot of questions about potential harm from the pollution, and that information is hard to come by. She said regulators are failing to do their jobs.

"We shouldn't have to dig through websites and dig through documents to find information that's relevant to us," said Salcido. "It should be something that is accessible, is easy to understand, is readily available in multiple languages."



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A new air monitoring project aims to study the health effects of air pollution in west Louisville's Rubbertown neighborhood.

More than two decades ago, residents' advocacy spurred the creation of the Strategic Toxic Air Reduction program, which allows local areas to adopt air regulations beyond what the Environmental Protection Agency requires.

Byron Gary, program attorney for the Kentucky Resources Council, said the program was one of the most protective in the nation when it launched in the early 2000s, slashing local air pollution by 80%.

"The STAR program did effectively reduce the emissions from those facilities in West Louisville a great deal," Gary recounted. "It has done a pretty good job at making sure that any additional industry or changes to industry in that area does not backslide and cause cancer risks to go back up."

The three-year project will use multiple air-monitoring sites and a novel wastewater-sampling study to collect data. The West Jefferson County Community Task Force and other local groups are involved in the study and will host regular community meetings to discuss concerns and get residents' feedback.

Matt Mudd, communications coordinator for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, said findings from the Rubbertown Air Toxics and Health Assessment will be used to better understand how residents' exposure to toxic air pollution has changed over time.

"We haven't had a project of this scale to compare to that past West Louisville air toxic study until now," Mudd explained. "We're looking forward to having that data in hand, understand the progress that we've made, and then look at what's next."

Gary added the new study is needed to better pinpoint what hazards remain in an area long dominated by chemical and manufacturing industries.

"There's still progress to be made," Gary asserted. "There are still disparities between West Louisville, where predominantly Black residents live, compared to the rest of Louisville."

A study published earlier this year by Stanford Medicine researchers found Black Americans are significantly more likely to die from health problems linked to air pollution, specifically exposure to fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 pollution, compared with other racial and ethnic groups.