Some people just can’t fathom a 4th of July or Pioneer Day holiday without fireworks. The bright colors, loud booms and bangs are thrilling to some. But for other people (and dogs), fireworks are nothing more than a menace to our society. For people sensitive to air pollution, two weeks of July in Utah are […]
In response to a temporary slump in oil prices during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, the Trump Administration gave the fossil fuel industry a huge handout by reducing royalties for oil and gas companies operating on federal public lands. Royalties are a percentage of the value of extracted fossil fuels, paid back to the federal government with […]
What we can learn from the pandemic that may help Utahns in times of Air Quality crisis. The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented times globally, to say the least. The overall impact is yet to be seen, including the emotional, physical, and economic toll the outbreak will have on our society. But could […]
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 seem to be paying attention to the government-provided air quality apps, which relay data from strategically […]
At the request of the Utah Legislature, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah has prepared a report on strategies to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Utah. The report notes that mountain topography and population growth create air quality challenges. Climate change is creating warmer, drier conditions associated […]
Here’s a peek at some environmental-related bills The end of January hails the beginning of the Utah state legislative session. For 45 days, till mid-March, 75 state legislators and 29 state senators are gathered on Salt Lake City’s Capitol Hill to consider, debate, reject, and pass bills into law. New bills continually come out during […]
Inversions are natural events due to cold temperatures and our surrounding mountains (for a more detailed explanation, take a look at CATALYST’s January 2018 issue). When air becomes stagnant, pollution, which normally gets ventilated away, ends up trapped. This causes us to earn a dangerously high rank in particulate matter (also known as PM2.5) levels […]
We have a pretty good understanding about air pollution in relation to respiratory illnesses like asthma and COPD, and know there’s a link to cardiovascular disease. But it turns out air quality also affects how well we sleep. In 2004, the EPA awarded the University of Washington a research grant to study how air pollution […]
It’s a fundamental principle of economics: If you tax something, you get less of it. That’s the idea behind a citizen ballot initiative to clean up Utah’s air pollution problem with a modest carbon tax. Revenues would go to clean up air pollution, fund rural economic development and help reduce sales taxes on grocery store […]
The American Lung Association grades Salt Lake County “F” for clean air. As a whole, the Salt Lake metropolitan area (Salt Lake City-Provo –Orem) is ranked as the 8th most polluted city in the nation for particle pollution and 14th most polluted for ozone. The 2019 release of the annual State of the Air report […]
How did the environment do? Another legislative session has come and gone, and like most years before this one, there was a range of positive and negative legislation passed (or not) that affects our environment. The good: HB 139: Motor Vehicle Emission Amendments, Rep. Angela Romero—aka the “Coal roller bill” After an unsuccessful go in […]
Legacy Parkway residents are fighting to protect a cherished Utah roadway. In the face of opposing forces they’re not giving up. When North Salt Lake resident Angie Keeton recently learned that large trucks could soon be allowed on Legacy Parkway, a road located about 800 feet from her home in the city’s Foxboro neighborhood, she […]
In his proposed 2019 budget, Utah Governor Gary Herbert included a one-time allocation of $100 million (up from a more typical $4 million) to help improve Utah’s air quality. If our legislators support that amount all the way to the final budget allocation, what are the most effective way to spend it? The good ideas […]
Air quality-related proposals for Utah’s 2019 legislative session
Here in the Salt Lake Valley, we are no strangers to inversions and air pollution.
