Colorado environmentalists worried repeal of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will put state at risk

Environmentalists in Colorado are concerned about the impact a possible repeal of a 2009 Environmental Protection Agency regulation that requires reporting on greenhouse gases could have on air quality in the state.

Saturday morning, the Sierra Club, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, local lawmakers, community members and more came together to voice their opposition to the EPA's effort to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. They say it's an issue that will have an impact from the mountains to Commerce City and beyond.

"We're facing lower snowpack in the Mountain West, where, every year, we're seeing a few less days of skiing," said Pitkin County Commissioner Jeffrey Woodruff.

"It's our community that has dealt with issues of cancer because they've been forced to drink the water and lead pipes and so many other pollutants," said Commerce City Council Member Renee Chacon.

"I am the wife of a firefighter, and since I've been here and with my husband, the number of fires has increased exponentially. And it's not just, 'Oh, it's on a mountain. Oh, it's out and some bushland.' It's in our neighborhoods. It's in our communities. We see the smoke every day. I have a four-year-old who can't go outside and play on certain days because of the wildfire smoke," said Danielle Abrams with the Sierra Club.

The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requires reporting of greenhouse gas data from large greenhouse gas emission sources, fuel and industrial gas suppliers and CO2 injection sites. The EPA says the GHGRP costs companies money they could use to improve environmental controls at their facilities.

In a press release issued by the EPA back on September 12, they said, "Unlike mandatory information collections under the Clean Air Act, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is not directly related to a potential regulation. It has no material impact on improving human health and the environment."

The EPA under the Trump administration also says that if it gets rid of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, it could save American businesses up to $2.4 billion in regulatory costs.

Environmentalists who oppose the measures say that corporate profits should not be made on the backs of America's citizens.

Chacon says if regulations like the GHGRP are repealed, it's people like those in her community who will pay the price because they will see the negative health effects first, like they are now.

"They're paying even higher health costs when it comes to inhalers or even missing school," said Chacon.

Abrams is urging all of Colorado to reach out to the EPA through public comment and tell them what they think.

"Standing up and telling your story, that's what we can all do," said Abrams.