FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 1, 2025
Contacts:
- Garrett Royer, Senior Government Affairs and Political Advocate, Sierra Club Colorado: (303) 524-5928; garrett.royer@sierraclub.org
- Laurie Anderson, CO Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force: 920-378-9654; landerson@momscleanairforce.org
DENVER, CO – Colorado clean air advocates, public health leaders, and concerned residents are sounding the alarm over the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision this week to delay implementation of its 2024 methane rule and to repeal the foundational Endangerment Finding—a pair of moves they say will severely undermine public health protections, air pollution control efforts and climate progress.
“In Colorado this summer we are seeing dangerously hot temperatures and wildfires forcing evacuations across our state. In Washington, Trump's EPA has decided that our lives are worth sacrificing to fossil fuel executives,” said Margaret Kran-Annexstein, Director of the Colorado Sierra Club. “The repeal of the endangerment finding and delay of the methane rule are handouts to corporate polluters and a political stunt that will require a strong response from elected leaders across the states to protect our communities.”
The Endangerment Finding, a cornerstone of climate policy upheld by the Supreme Court, affirms that climate pollution endangers human health and welfare. Its repeal, alongside the delay of the methane rule, could dismantle critical safeguards that limit emissions from power plants, vehicles, and oil and gas facilities. Together, these actions risk unraveling decades of progress and could leave communities nationwide more vulnerable to toxic air pollution and climate-driven harm.
“This week, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a pair of decisions that will undermine many of our nation’s most protective and effective policies to safeguard public health and mitigate the climate crisis,” said Nini Gu, Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager at Environmental Defense Fund. “He delayed the implementation of the 2024 EPA methane rule, which underlines the critical importance of Governor Jared Polis’s leadership to cut oil and gas methane emissions in Colorado. He also rescinded the Endangerment Finding, disregarding an ever-growing mountain of scientific research and turning the clock back on decades of progress that have led to cleaner, healthier air and a more hopeful future for our children. In the absence of strong national standards, Colorado's continued leadership is essential—not just for the climate and the health of its communities, but also to help set the bar for responsible energy production across the country.”
Denver and Colorado's Northern Front Range are already experiencing unacceptable levels of ozone pollution - levels that pose a direct threat to public health according to federal health-based standards.
“The Trump Administration’s decision to repeal the EPA's endangerment finding sacrifices public health to political and corporate agendas,” said Dr. Sara Carpenter, Board Chair of Healthy Air and Water Colorado. “This repeal blatantly disregards the overwhelming scientific consensus and decades of evidence indicating that greenhouse gases drive climate change and are dangerous to human health. As a physician, I worry about the health effects of climate change every day – children with asthma attacks triggered by ozone pollution, adults with heart and lung conditions struggling to survive heat waves, and increasingly unpredictable and severe storms, floods, and wildfires. The endangerment finding empowers the federal government to reduce carbon pollution. Without it, we lose one of our most critical tools for protecting public health.”
In 2023 alone, Colorado’s oil and gas sector emitted over 1 million metric tons of methane — equal to the annual emissions of 22 coal plants or 20 million passenger vehicles. The EPA’s now-delayed methane rule was projected to prevent the emission of 58 million tons of methane by 2038, avoiding up to 1,500 premature deaths and 100,000 asthma attacks annually across the U.S.
“As a mom with asthma and a child who also suffers from it, the EPA’s decision to delay the methane rule is deeply disheartening. The very agency tasked with protecting our health and environment is dragging their feet on protecting children and communities from one of the largest contributors to climate pollution,” said Shaina Oliver, Field Organizer with Moms Clean Air Force-EcoMadres Colorado. “Our children already bear an unjust burden of health issues in frontline communities. As a tribal member of the Navajo Nation, this painful reality is nothing new. Our communities have long fought to protect our sacred lands, waters, and air and we cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Clean air advocates urged Congress, state leaders, and the public to reject these rollbacks and delays. Despite these setbacks, we must find a way to push forward with bold, science-based action to defend clean air, protect vulnerable communities, and ensure a livable future for all Coloradans.
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