Fort Collins Air Quality
Seems like ever since I arrived in Fort Collins, there have been virtually no unpleasant surprises, just lots of wonderful ones. And here I go tooting the horn for the Fort again, this time concerning air quality.
Apparently, at least when it comes to having low levels of long-term particulate pollution, the Fort Collins-Loveland area is 12th in the nation according to a new report entitled State of the Air 2006 by the American Lung Association. Almost as pleasing to me was seeing that the #1 town in this report was Cheyenne, WY, which is just 45 miles north of here, the direction I go cycling towards sometimes. Maybe I should bike that way more often.
Considering how much people around here love spending outside (especially with the gorgeous spring weather we’ve been having, with temperatures in the 70s and trees in near-full bloom), this is great news for us. Admittedly, the situation could improve around here when it comes to ozone (smog). There have been a few days this year when ozone has been so omnipresent that one could not see the foothills in detail from my windows. Now, the situation is much better here than in most cities and areas like around the Great Smokies, southern California, etc., but there is room for improvement. Kudos for the city of Fort Collins, then, for progressive programs such as using buses that run on clean-burning compressed natural gas, for example. I suppose I can also do my part by driving less and, say, biking more.
