The Larimer Alliance has been a bit busy and preoccupied ever since the Trump administration started its destructive campaign of slashing and burning vast swaths of the federal government, so please forgive the lack of communication; but we are now back, and want to keep the community informed we have been up to.
There have been some definite developments which we would like to relate.
Our hopes for the AQE solution
The Larimer Alliance had led a sustained effort since fall 2024 targeted at the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners to see if we could get their support for supporting a Boulder AIR station here. To that end, we attempted to get the CEO of Boulder Air (BA), Dr Detlev Helmig, to give a special presentation to the three county commissioners. We wanted to make sure the commissioners had the best information possible, and clearly understand what BA stations can do, and why they are the best technology possible for a regional approach to air quality monitoring. Our hope was to get Dr. Helmig before the commissioners by January 2025, and shortly thereafter ask the county to apply for a grant from a state agency that was created in 2020 for this purpose, the Air Quality Enterprise. (AQE)
We had good reason to think that Larimer County would have had an excellent chance at receiving such a grant. The grant would have paid for a BA station for at least one year, and possibly longer. Our hopes were based on very tangible evidence: direct contact with the funding source itself.
Ed Behan and I had a Zoom meeting with the executive director of the AQE, Jeremy Neustifter, on November 18, 2024. We explained to Jeremy our simple goal: to get a Boulder AIR monitoring station so that we can measure our air pollution; specifically, the ozone precursors…more specifically, the ozone precursors coming from the two primary sources: vehicles versus O&G activity. And, more specifically yet, the amount of ozone precursors coming from O&G activity in Weld County. We happen to think that would be a pretty useful number to know; it seemed like a perfectly reasonable object of air quality research.
Mr Neustifter was very understanding of our concerns. He was quite open about the mission of the entity, which is to encourage research into such questions. So, he encouraged us to ask Larimer County to apply for a grant. Ed and I were uplifted by this development, and set to work contacting our county commissioners with this news.
The BOCC Rejects Air Quality Monitoring…for now
With our best efforts of dangling the bait before the BOCC which we thought would be a slam dunk — who wouldn’t want better air quality monitoring paid for with a free grant? — the commissioners did not bite. Here is what they said: (click on the image to see a larger version)
As you can see, we got turned down cold; none of the commissioners expressed interest in pursuing a BA station at this time.
Still, the response by Commissioner Stephens did leave a bit of an opening, inviting us to participate in the Regional Air Quality Commission meetings. We are aware of the RAQC, but had not focused on them as a suitable lever of action…until now. Since Larimer County views them as the appropriate arena in which to pursue a regional approach to our air quality issues, the Larimer Alliance will need to do so as well….
Stay tuned! More developments are sure to come.
Rick, I recall that you once did attend RAQC meetings and I think it a very good plan to continue to monitor this group. They happen First Thursdays at 6p and are live-streamed. To help with note-taking, an IOS user could turn on app Granola.AI and it will summarize in real time from your computer’s audio. This helps one to focus without furiously taking notes. If someone in LA would commit to attending, I have a path to making reports public, therefore shareable, so other LA members can consider best steps forward.
Because I participated in that push to get a grant, I’ve read Gonzalez’ response and now the others. I think it’s time we back off on insisting that Detlev is the only answer and go back to listening in all the spaces where the public is welcome. I’d really like to see the slide deck presented by the county as an opener for what they want to do for air quality. I called and asked for it, but the person did not follow through. I’m told it’s Leah Schneider’s slide deck.