The Gift Of Clean Air Working Together, People Can Clean Up Air Pollution And Pass On A Healthy World To The Next Generation
I was fortunate to be part of a successful collaborative effort to put in place the nation’s first oxygenated fuels mandate.
Oxygenated fuels fuels with higher degrees of oxygen in them change the composition of gasoline to help minimize pollution and improve air quality. Not long ago, Colorado had a severe pollution problem. In 1986 the state gained the dubious distinction of having the highest level of carbon monoxide pollution in the country.
Like Colorado, communities in the Inland Northwest struggle against air pollution because near-by mountains trap pollutants close to the ground.
There were really two successes in Colorado in the late 1980s. First, we achieved a significant reduction in our carbon monoxide pollution problem. But we also demonstrated the importance of building partnerships in order to develop and implement public policy.
Like many Western states, Colorado is a tough place to pass government mandates. Many in the Rocky Mountain region dislike government intervention. The frontier spirit is alive and well, and it’s contagious to newcomers. Many Coloradans are fiscally conservative. They don’t spend tax money easily.
They also drive their cars more miles than most Americans.
Yet we managed in Denver to implement the first successful oxyfuel program in the country.
It wasn’t easy.
In 1987, then Gov. Dick Lamm created a task force to examine the affects of oxygenated gasoline on air pollution. The Governor was an environmentalist. He decided to address air quality issues before the federal government forced his hand.
That’s one bonus to the Western attitude. People prefer to control their own destiny rather than have someone else tell them what to do.
After nine months of deliberation, Gov. Lamm’s task force recommended a 3.5 percent increase in the use of oxygenated fuels - an immediate wake-up call to the petroleum industry.
The oil companies fought hard to defeat the proposed program. Several of them mounted a major offensive against oxygenated gasoline. They fanned consumer concerns with claims that automobile engines would be severely affected, sometimes resulting in accidents and injury to passengers. One oil company ordered its service stations to destroy the Colorado Health Department brochures describing oxygenated fuel and replaced them with company brochures. “No Alcohol” and “Pure Gasoline” signs appeared at service stations throughout the Denver metropolitan area.
Faced with grand scale opposition, supporters of cleaner gasoline also organized.
Individuals and organizations with a vested interest in improved air quality formed a coalition. Members included the local lung association, representatives from the ski industry, the Colorado Wildlife Federation, the Colorado Medical Society and the Denver Public School Board. We worked with the Colorado Health Department and industrial businesses to develop a publicity campaign to counter the oil companies. We formed a speakers bureau. We appeared on radio and television shows. We sent columns to our local newspapers.
Then, after a year of public hearings, a citizen body called the Air Quality Control Commission passed our oxyfuel regulation. The commission was intended to represent the population of our region. Its membership included industry representatives, health care providers and a member of the League of Women Voters.
The mandate in Colorado served as a model for other programs in the Rocky Mountain states. It’s often credited with laying the groundwork for the carbon monoxide strategy in the national Clean Air Act.
More importantly, it worked. From 1988 to 1996 Coloradans enjoyed a significant decrease in air pollution.
The Colorado oxyfuel story is an example of the successful development and implementation of citizen-driven public policy. The policy was debated in open forums for two years. A serious public education effort was mounted, making truthful information available to consumers. As a result, public interest prevailed.
So Abe Lincoln was right. It’s tough to fool most of the people most of the time. Even in complicated, volatile times like these, with so much information available about so many complex subjects, Americans demonstrate a great deal of common sense. When facts are presented by people they trust, in a fashion that’s understandable, citizens will make good decisions.
There’s nothing esoteric about this idea, but I believe the message is critical. The kind of simple, successful program that we put in place in Colorado often falls victim to infighting, turf battles and individual inability to see the larger picture.
The point is that if citizens hope to accomplish anything worthwhile, we’ll need to collaborate with each other. We need to pay attention to other people, who are probably trying to accomplish the same task in a different way. This isn’t a suggestion that we eliminate competition, but rather that we use it more effectively. We must seriously evaluate each major issue that affects us in terms of our best interests in the long run. That frequently entails compromise in the short run.
Air pollution mitigation is a tough public issue. It has enormous potential for economic and environmental good, but also for bringing out the worst in all of us - government, industry, environmentalists and consumers.
In order to positively impact air quality in the Inland Northwest, people must learn to address the task efficiently, to involve more people in the process and to seek win/win solutions.
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This sidebar appeared with the story: AN AIR OF EXCELLENCE Barbara Charnes will be the keynote speaker this Wednesday, April 9 at “An Air of Excellence,” an event celebrating individuals, organizations and businesses that have made a positive difference in the Inland Northwest’s air quality. For more information, call 325-6516.