The state is working to reduce air pollution with goals

 The state is working to reduce air pollution with goals to lower emissions from oil and gas production and by trying to reduce the number of gas-powered cars on the roads through tax credits for electric vehicles and free public transportation in July and August.

Silverstein attributed the 2023 air quality improvement, in part, to these efforts.

August brought its typical hot, dry weather, but the number of days when ozone pollution exceeded federal standards didn’t jump to excessive numbers during the month, he said.

“We bounce up and down, depending on the meteorology,” Silverstein said. “But it also has to do with our emission-control programs. Those have an impact.”

But there is much work to be done, environmentalists say.

“The way I think of it is, ‘Great, we had fewer ozone alerts and ozone days than we had in recent years,'” said Kirsten Schatz, clean air advocate for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.  “But we got lucky with the weather. We can’t count on the weather from year to year to save us from ozone pollution.”