March 2020

A shift to 100% renewable energy as we transition to a regenerative agricultural system can avert climate disaster, says global thought leader and Intermountain Sustainability Summit keynote speaker Hunter Lovins. This past January was the hottest Janu …

Osho Zen Tarot:  The Fool, Beyond Illusions Medicine Cards: Coyote, Badger Mayan Oracle: Cimi, Maluc, Unity Ancient Egyptian Tarot:  Four of Cups, Seven of Wands, Princess of Swords Aleister Crowley Deck: Aleister Crowley Deck: Princess of Wands, Princ …

Mar 1  Average temps today: high 49º, low 32º. Sunrise:  7:00am. Sunset:   6:19pm. Mar 2  The National Pest Management Association predicts that our wetter winter will be followed by a warmer and drier summer, with increased cockroach, ant and fly popu …

To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe—to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it–is a wonder beyond words. Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary …

I’m experiencing mixed joy this week, but there is some twisted irony in knowing that the person who stole my credit card number used it to buy a home security system. I’m not complaining too much. Excessive credit card interest rates will pay for my l …

Jenifer’s latest play, THE AUDACITY, has had to temporarily postpone its world premiere at Plan-B Theatre. Details at planbtheatre.org I am not known as audacious. People who know me will tell you I’m a pretty reserved, relatively hermetic person who c …

You can’t see it but you may smell it. The cloud of smog lurking under the latest inversion isn’t the only pollution cloud on the horizon. Every house, office and classroom has its own personalized toxic cloud. Last month we explored ultrafine particul …

Utahn’s are getting the message. Wood smoke contains over 200 chemicals and compounds, including carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx), dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Woodsmoke is strikingly …

PurpleAir, AirU and the future of air quality monitoring. It’s the tail end of Utah’s inversion season—a time when one might assume winter’s passionate concern regarding air quality would simmer down. But this year, things are different. More people se …

We are here for an intervention. Dark, luscious, fertile soil; weed-free, loose, loamy and teeming with life: This is the foundation every gardener dreams of starting each season with.  Well-structured, full of nutrients, and wriggling with worms, an e …

Innate inner wildness. CHAKRA TWO Location: In the pelvis. Governs: Sexuality and Desires. Main issue: Involves ability to experience pleasure and sensation especially as these relate to our sexuality. Externalizes: As the ovaries in women and the test …

Ends on March12. The final days are the busiest. At this point in Utah’s 45-day legislative session, most bills have been introduced. Some have been moving positively through the lawmaking process; others haven’t made any movement yet. Then in the firs …

The 2020 General Session of the Utah Legislature ends March 12, 2020. The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club and HEAL Utah track priority environmental bills that they support or oppose to help you know what’s happening on the hill. (See “At the Capitol,” …

Despite a strong economy, environmental degradation has negative impacts on Utah’s quality of life, according to the 2018 Quality of Life Survey conducted by the Utah Foundation and Intermountain Healthcare. When people were asked, “what could most imp …

Saturday March 7th, 11am-4pm The Gateway, South end of the Union Station Come with questions, leave with solutions On one hand, the longterm prospect for the Salt Lake Valley’s air quality looks bleak: An “If you build it, they will come” attitude is m …

Since the State of Utah has so far failed to analyze environmental impacts of building an inland port northwest of Salt Lake City, a coalition of citizen groups has released a fact sheet to address environmental and quality-of-life concerns. The Coalit …

Even the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) is getting into the green energy business. SITLA, notorious for oil sands leasing and support for various other environmentally unsound projects, reports that annual revenue from …

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is set to offer oil and gas leases on 5,000 acres in the Sand Flats Recreation Area, home to Moab’s famous Slickrock Trail, adjacent to both the Mill Creek and Negro Bill (a.k.a. Grandstaff Canyon) Wilderness …

As of January the University of Utah is ranked #8 in the Environmental Protection Agency list of the largest green power users in higher education, with 49% of total electricity use generated by geothermal and solar power. The University has contracted …

The Center for Biological Diversity has given Interior Secretary David Bernhardt the 2019 Rubber Dodo award for a person or group who has most aggressively sought to destroy America’s natural heritage or drive endangered species extinct. Bernhardt won …

The federal Surface Transportation Board recently began work on an Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed Uinta Basin Railway intended to send Utah crude oil to out-of-state markets. The railway is a pet project of the Seven County Infrastructur …

Dominion Energy, which supplies natural gas to Utah consumers, has announced a “net-zero” goal to offset greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Unfortunately, the details are a bit sketchy. The net-zero goal depends on an offset program using “renewable nat …

The Bureau  of Land Management (BLM) has approved development plans for public lands cut from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments even though lawsuits to restore the original boundaries of the two Utah national monuments have no …