The EPA said Utah’s ozone pollution was harming public health. Industry groups pushed the state to blame China instead.

But according to data from air quality monitoring stations, ozone levels were not substantially reduced before that deadline. Instead, fossil fuel and mining industry groups in Utah waged a campaign to pressure state regulators and elected officials to shift blame for the problem away from local polluters and onto China and its neighbors in Asia in what environmentalists say is an attempt to avoid federal regulations.