LAWYERS

quality commission and carries out day-to-day air regulation.

e commission’s rulemaking sessions debate how to carry out directives from the legislature. As part of Colorado’s overall e ort to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, the legislature added details in 2021 requiring the largest industrial polluters to cut emissions 20% by that year, from a 2015 base year. Any industrial company emitting over 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year would need to start limits in 2024.

After rounds and rounds of lings by the parties, public comments and state responses, the commission will take up the industrial rules, called GEMM Phase 2, in September. e list of 18 Colorado companies ranges from American Gypsum to Molson Coors and Cargill Meat Solutions, to Sterling Ethanol and Suncor Energy’s Commerce City re nery.

Public comments are great, said Nancy Hoag, a volunteer with the organization. e Mini Brew Crew went on their second outing to Max Taps Co. in Highlands Ranch where 20% of the proceeds went to the nonpro t. Zuma’s was invited back to the e APCD’s Clay Clarke reached out to the Colorado Bar Association environment committee and wound up with a list of pro bono attorneys willing to dig in on behalf of community groups. e corporations will have their general counsel and expensive private attorneys, and the established environmental nonpro ts have their sta and contract attorneys, Sassman said. Community members who may live right next to the industrial plants, meanwhile, are facing “complex and jargony” issues, in their spare time. brewery on Aug. 19 where there will also be food trucks and live music.

McDonell said, but if a community group is granted “party” status, “they’re actually around the table with other entities, who actually can get into the details of the rule language, they can propose di erent language, alternate proposals.” Becoming an o cial “party” has more involvement and in uence, “but it’s also more time, and it comes with deadlines and things that are related to a legal process. ey don’t require an attorney, but it’s a heck of a lot easier if you have one,” McDonell said.

Messenich said they plan on doing a brewery tour with the Mini Brew Crew.

“It lets people know we’re here, lets people know we need help, we need

“ at’s where somebody like us could come in and help,” Sassman said.

State o cials say they are prepared to handle the results from their e orts at balance, and know full well they are handing the community a list of lawyers who could make regulators’ lives miserable.

“No one’s ever too happy with us” anyway, McDonell said. “But in all seriousness, I think the priority here is to get the voices to the table to have a normal conversation because historically, again, it’s those wellfunded groups that have been part of the conversation. We don’t have any control or expectation about them being supportive of us or the proposal. We know they’re going to challenge us and we want that, we welcome that.”

Lehman and the advisory council already have some buzzwords in the rule drafts for which they are seeking more legal explanations.

Carbon capture, for example, bothers Lehman to no end. She fears state regulators may allow the industrial polluters to keep spewing damaging air into neighborhoods volunteers badly,” said Messenich. “We need nancial help, we need physical help and just awareness.” Also, items can be donated to the ranch. ese include cleaning and medical supplies and supplements. e items are listed on the ranch’s Walmart and Amazon wish list. but then o set it through buying carbon credits or stu ng the carbon underground in long-term storage, an ethically controversial tradeo . e air pollution division knows the lawyers on their pro bono list will bring those arguments, and more, to the industrial pollution rules, and other upcoming policy battles.

Community groups also want tough enforcement language written into the rules, Lehman said. If she gets too many speeding tickets, her driver’s license is taken away, she said. But companies like Suncor have years of multiple air violations and never lose their permits.

“We absolutely have a deep commitment to environmental justice,” McDonell said. “But we can only say that so many times.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

FROM PAGE 12 who aren’t welcome in their own homes because of gender dysphoria,” Laydon said. “I’m a dad. I’m a Republican. I’m a man of faith. And I’m a member of the LGBTQ community … For me, supporting vulnerable populations is a priority.”

Laydon and omas voted to approve the funding for the several mental health-related organizations, with Teal voting against them.

Other organizations e funding comes amid the county’s ongoing e ort to bolster mental health support in recent years. e source of the grant funding is the federal American Rescue Plan Act, often called ARPA. at’s a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed into law in March 2021 with a goal to support the economic and public health recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. e grant funding the county approved July 25 totals $1.37 million.