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Despite improvements in air quality over the past 50 years, ambient air pollution remains an important public health issue in the United States. In particular, emissions from coal‐fired power plants still have a substantial impact on both nearby and regional populations. Of particular concern is the potential for this impact to fall disproportionately on low‐income communities and communities of color. We conducted a quantitative health impact assessment to estimate the health benefits of the proposed decommissioning of two coal‐fired electricity generating stations in the Southern Front Range region of Colorado. We estimated changes in exposures to fine particulate matter and ozone using the Community Multiscale Air Quality model and predicted avoided health impacts and related economic values. We also quantitatively assessed the distribution of these benefits by population‐level socioeconomic status. Across the study area, decommissioning the power plants would result in 2 (95% CI: 1–3) avoided premature deaths each year due to reduced PM2.5 exposures and greater reductions in hospitalizations and other morbidities. Health benefits resulting from the modeled shutdowns were greatest in areas with lower educational attainment and other economic indicators. Our results suggest that decommissioning these power plants and replacing them with zero‐emissions sources could have broad public health benefits for residents of Colorado, with larger benefits for those that are socially disadvantaged. Our results also suggested that researchers and decision makers need to consider the unique demographics of their study areas to ensure that important opportunities to reduce health disparities associated with point‐source pollution. Key Points: Coal‐fired power plants in Colorado contribute to poor air quality, but two of the largest plants are slated to be decommissioned by 2035Retiring these plants now would result in ~40 fewer deaths and $274M in avoided impacts over the remaining 19‐year lifespan of the plantsReduced emissions would predominantly benefit low‐income communities which often bear the heaviest environmental burdens [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, the American West faced two competing challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst wildfire season on record. Several studies have investigated the impact of wildfire smoke (WFS) on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, but little is known about how these two public health challenges impact mortality risk for other causes. Using a time-series design, we evaluated how daily risk of mortality due to WFS exposure differed for periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study included daily data for 11 counties in the Front Range region of Colorado (2010–2020). We assessed WFS exposure using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and used mortality counts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. We estimated the interaction between WFS and the pandemic (an indicator variable) on mortality risk using generalized additive models adjusted for year, day of week, fine particulate matter, ozone, temperature, and a smoothed term for day of year. WFS impacted the study area on 10% of county-days. We observed a positive association between the presence of WFS and all-cause mortality risk (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.03, 95%CI: 1.01–1.04 for same-day exposures) during the period before the pandemic; however, WFS exposure during the pandemic resulted in decreased risk of all-cause mortality (IRR = 0.90, 95%CI: 0.87–0.93 for same-day exposures). We hypothesize that mitigation efforts during the first year of the pandemic, e.g., mask mandates, along with high ambient WFS levels encouraged health behaviors that reduced exposure to WFS and reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Our results suggest a need to examine how associations between WFS and mortality are impacted by pandemic-related factors and that there may be lessons from the pandemic that could be translated into health-protective policies during future wildfire events. • We assessed the interaction of COVID-19 and wildfire smoke on non-COVID mortality. • Smoke was associated with increased all-cause mortality risk before the pandemic. • During the pandemic, smoke exposure was protective for all-cause mortality risk. • Mitigation efforts during the pandemic may have reduced population smoke exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]