Fracking infrastructure is depicted through playground equipment at Bella Romero Academy in Greeley on June 24, 2020. (Andy Bosselman for Colorado Newsline)

We see the impacts all around us: wildfires across the Front Range, unhealthy air quality from smoke and pollution, extreme heat forcing us indoors, inflated energy costs due to increased use of air conditioning – if we are lucky enough to do so. have access. Climate change is here and now, and we know that many Colorado communities are suffering from its impacts more than others.

The specifics of oil and gas regulation may seem insignificant, but this is where the seeds of systemic environmental racism are sown. After the summer of 2020, our country’s collective consciousness began to include the experiences of communities marginalized by racism. Instead of complaining about the inequalities born of racism in our country, we now have the opportunity to act. By requiring these rules to recognize and mitigate the direct harms of oil and gas production to those most affected, we advance justice.

As a family physician, I see the impacts of climate change on the patients I treat almost daily. In Colorado, children experience more asthma attacks on days with high ozone, older adults’ risks and concerns about their cardiovascular health increase on days of extreme heat, and pregnant women intuitively know that wildfire smoke harms their unborn child. Extensive research proves that climate change and pollutants directly compromise our health. This is especially true for our most vulnerable communities: predominantly BIPOC and low-income residents.

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Not only do I treat members of these affected communities disproportionately, but I also live in one of these communities. Here in Larimer County, we are surrounded by oil and gas developments that pollute our air, destroy our environment and harm our health. We know that the oil and gas industry activities around us have a negative impact on the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. These operations create noise, odors and direct pollution of the air, water and land on which our lives ultimately depend. Colorado defines these as “cumulative impacts,” but the real question is: How can we meaningfully protect public health and our environment from these impacts?

Recognizing the importance of protecting the health of people and our environment, a 2019 Colorado environmental justice law imposed new rules to mitigate the cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations, one of the leading drivers of accelerating pollution the climate in Colorado. Historically, federal and other state attempts to establish meaningful rules on cumulative impacts have not been successful in terms of enacting meaningful protections for communities.

Unfortunately, rules adopted this week by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, the regulatory agency responsible for managing oil and gas operations in the state, also fail to achieve their goals. This is important because oil and gas companies intend to increase drilling in and around disproportionately affected communities in the coming years.

The rules adopted are mixed: expected progress in procedural justice through improved public participation processes, but overall a failure to provide critical protections to disproportionately affected communities that have historically experienced increased impacts on health due to higher levels of pollution from industrial operations and other sources.

I commend the commission for implementing robust new processes to improve procedural justice. Historically, engaging in rulemaking processes and oil and gas permitting has seemed out of reach for many of us. The commission will now improve community engagement and outreach earlier in the process, and also notify local governments of drilling permits. There are also new community liaison positions within the commission that will be used to advocate for communities’ interests.

While Colorado communities should be better able to access participation processes, industry demands have clearly taken precedence over meaningful public health protections for disproportionately impacted communities. Currently, a 2,000-foot setback – the distance between residential, school and high-traffic buildings and new oil and gas developments – is required, but there are significant off-ramps that compromise this essential protection. Research indicates that the risk of adverse health impacts increases significantly within 2,000 feet of oil and gas operations due to proximity and exposure to toxic and carcinogenic emissions like methane and benzene. While communities will now be notified and consulted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment when drilling is planned within 4,000 feet of a home or school in disproportionately impacted communities , lack of meaningful community protections, such as denial of drilling permits within a half-mile radius. rather than simply consulting communities, directly threatens public health and environmental justice.

Although parts of the new cumulative impact rules are a step in the right direction, Colorado has failed to provide comprehensive protections to meaningfully protect public health. It is long past time that we hold the oil and gas industry accountable for the substantial profits they have made on the backs of Coloradans, at the expense of the safety and public health of our communities. We must demand strong enforcement and seek other avenues to ensure our communities are protected from health-damaging oil and gas operations close to their homes.

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