November 20, 2025
Once again, trying to bring some sense into Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commision (AQCC). It is time for them to admit that the targets that the legislature passed back in 2019 cannot be met. New York’s Governor Hochul has been forced to recognise this in her state, which also passed insanity into law in 2019 - New York At The Green Energy Wall -- What Is The Exit Strategy?
For some reason, the AQCC only recorded audio, so all that Martin has is written testimony. These can be found on Google Drive. Here’s Martin’s:
I’m Martin Sandberg, I’m a member of the IEEE power society and have lived in
Colorado for over 20 years. We enjoy great views from 6500 feet up in the front
range just west of Carter Lake, so we’re certainly interested in clean air. Here’s an
example Sunrise.
There have been significant changes since the 2019 law creating emissions targets
was passed. Colorado’s oil and gas industry has achieved a 50% reduction in
ozone precursors, but that has made little difference in attaining the 2025 target.
Therefor, it is pointless to ask the industry to do more. Indeed, the targets are
now obviously impossible.
To see just how much the scene has changed since 2019, The world's largest
podcast hosted Dr. Richard Lindzen and Dr. William Happer. These two
dissenting climate scientists would never have been on a huge platform like this
just 5 years ago. Then Ted Nordhaus published an essay titled “Why I Stopped
Being a Climate Catastrophist.” Even one of the largest funders of green
organizations has realized that there isn’t going to be a climate catastrophe.
The idea that there is going to be some kind of Climate Catastrophe has ended
and regulations need to change to reflect this.There isn’t any need to continue
imposing onerous regulations on Colorado’s oil and gas industry. Shutting it
down completely would never have made any difference to the supposed threat of
global warming anyway! Now even that illogical rational is gone. It is time to start
lifting the regulations, starting with those that do the most damage.
So, I would urge the commission to determine the most damaging regulations
and lift them.
Here’s Bills:
My name is William Hembree. I am an Air Force veteran who has lived in Colorado for well over two decades. I retired from a highly successful software engineering career and am now living in southern Larimer County inside the so-called ozone non-attainment area. I can see Rabbit Mountain eagles soaring past my windows more days than not. Like me, they seem to have no problems which are ozone-related. Since none of the ozone monitoring stations for the ozone NAA are within 10 miles of my house, I have to wonder how my local “non-attainment” was measured.
My late father was a petroleum engineer from the 1950’s thru the 1980s so I grew up around the oil industry. I actually had a summer job in the oil patch back in the 1970s and even back then, engineers hated to let product (natural gas and oil) get loose. With the prices today, I imagine that the urge to retain every scrap of product has only increased.
After decades of ozone monitoring and mitigation ozone efforts, there is little to show for the efforts. Indeed, I have read peer-reviewed studies showing that during the summer (the period of greatest ozone non-attainment), between 65% and 75% of VOCs (the principle ozone precursors) come from trees, primarily evergreens. If the overriding goal of the AQCC ozone regulations is to reduce ozone by reducing precursors, perhaps trees should be mitigated. It certainly makes more sense than chasing increasingly small sources of precursors. The petroleum industry has reportedly reduced the release of ozone precursors by half over the last decade. Additional regulations past the point of diminishing returns?
Petroleum drives the world’s economy, particularly here in Colorado. For the bureaucrats and politicians, the incentive to support the industry is increased tax revenues, e.g., for schools. But bear in mind the lessons of some other countries, where government control led to underinvestment and effectively killed the golden goose, causing revenues to plunge. So enlightened self-interest means the government should tread as lightly as possible in regulating industry.
I am concerned that the constantly increasing regulatory burden on the oil and gas industry is squeezing out smaller and even medium-sized companies, leaving only the titans. This is very anti-competitive. It is also an iron law of economics that as costs go up, prices will rise or supplies will drop. Please stop slowly strangling the petroleum industry, for the benefit of all of Colorado.