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Nelson Harrison Creath

Professor Courtney

English 2010

8 February 2020

Utah, A Growing State With Worsening Air

In recent years you may have noticed our “typical” inversion beginning to become more

severe. You may have noticed more red days where the Utah Department of Environmental

Quality reports high concentrations of PM2.5 and other air pollutants like ozone, nitrogen oxides,

carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. You may even notice that it feels different or

uncomfortable to breath. This is no coincidence, a combination of the Wasatch geography and

the states growth create a cycle where more and more pollutants are released but they can’t

escape our valleys because of the bowl shape. Between 2017 and 2018 Utah saw a 1.9%

population increase and the state is predicted to have its population of 3 million double by 2050

(Richardson, Brenda). With an increasing populations this means more cars on the road each day

and since tailpipe emissions are the main cause of air pollution, the two go hand in hand. The

worsening air quality in Utah is directly related to our increasing population, and the states

growth is only predicted to increase further (Richardson, Brenda); this means finding a solution

quickly is critical as you inevitably will create irreversible damage to the Wasatch micro-climate.

The consequences of poor air are impacts to our climate and water supply and major

health risks, “Doctors warn that breathing the polluted air can cause lung problems and other

health concerns, especially for pregnant women and people with respiratory issues.” according to

Brady McCombs of the Salt Lake Tribune. HEAL Utah, a local non-profit involved in the
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movement towards clean air, also reports that, “Exposure to pollution raises the risk and intensity

of problems like asthma, decreased lung function, heart attacks, and can lower resistance to

diseases, colds, and pneumonia. Families have reported moving out of Utah due to the problems

air quality causes for their children and elderly family members.” Many organizations like HEAL

(Healthy Environmental Alliance of Utah) have been formed to help tackle the problem and

encourage our legislature to make large scale changes such as laws and codes requiring

residential home owners and businesses

take certain measures to reduce their emissions.

Last year, “a coalition of environmental groups

filed a notice of intent to sue Utah Government

for missing deadlines to submit plans to clean

up air pollution. The plans lay out actions implemented in recent years, including a requirement

that only environmentally friendly water heaters and certain consumer products such as hair

spray and nail polish be sold. It also details an existing ban on wood burning on the worst air

quality days and a requirement that chain burger restaurants add equipment to limit pollution

when using contained ovens, or broilers.” (McCombs, Brady). Seeing organizations hold the

government accountable is extremely important in achieving better air quality at a faster rate than

our population grows.

Healthy Environmental Alliance of Utah or HEAL is a local organization that focuses on

strategies that can work to improve the air quality at an individual level and at a large scale. They

also work with legislature and lawmakers to create permanent solutions to this issue. With

tailpipe emissions being the main source of our pollution/inversion (healutah.org), HEAL
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emphasizes how change can be made at the individual level. “HEAL’s work on vehicle emissions

centers around education to spur individual change and legislative and regulatory action.

Through conversations at local events, online and handout materials, partnerships, and

community nights, we educate the public about the health effects of bad air, how their cars

contribute to that, and what easy, individual action they can take to make a

difference.” (healutah.org). Changes like these take time to grow and organizations like HEAL

are persistent in their effort to create a sustainable future for our state.

A second organization that stands out is Leaders For Clean Air, a non-profit local to Salt

Lake City. Leaders For Clean Air provides our local businesses with free electric-vehicle (EV)

charging stations and they also help to organize larger projects to install charging stations in

residential areas and anywhere else where they might be needed in large quantity. With

permanent solutions still requiring years of research and development, Leaders For Clean Air has

created a practical and useful solution that also encourages people to drive EVs. “In 2012, CEO

Hanko Kiessner decided to take on the battle for air quality. While building his business in Salt

Lake City, he felt a personal moral and ethical responsibility to extend the principle of not doing

business at the expense of others.” (leadersforcleanair.org). Kiessner saw the problem and also

saw how it needed a practical solution. “In response to the poor air quality in Salt Lake City,

Hanko made the decision to drive electric to reduce tailpipe emissions. As a way to promote this

message, he began by giving away free charging stations to business partners as a gift and

message of goodwill to expand the available infrastructure for charging electric vehicles. The

program was so popular he decided to formalize it and make it available to all Utah businesses.

To spread the word, he joined with two other business leaders, Steve Keyser, and Talley
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Goodson, to form Leaders for Clean Air and launched the private-sector initiative on Jan 20,

2015,” (leadersforcleanair.org) since forming they have installed over 1000 charging stations

across the valley and that is just the start. Like HEAL, Leaders For Clean Air are working to

bring change by starting with the individual. By creating a culture that is more conscious of our

environment the goal is to reduce tailpipe emissions at a large scale to better our air quality.

There are many groups, like the two that were mentioned, working to solve this problem

by encouraging individuals to reduce emissions. Certain businesses have carpool programs

(Miller, Derek B.), and UTA is even working on a permanent solution to the canyon traffic in

Provo, Big and Little Cottonwood, and Parley’s canyons (Boal, Jed). The population growth in

Utah is a serious issue for many reasons and the main one being air. Unfortunately the growth is

only going to speed up and continue. Our economy, job opportunities, cost of living, low crime

rate, and outdoor recreation make Utah a no brainer to those seeking refuge from high rent costs

and over competitive job markets. Manufacturing and other industry does contribute to the air

quality but in actuality those are the easiest to regulate. It is a massive challenge to get 3 million

people to all care about their individual carbon footprint and it starts with grassroots efforts and

then grows into something larger, a “culture”.

The population is expanding and the air is worsening. Our winters become shorter and

our summers grow hotter. Less and less snow is

received annually and the base melts earlier each

year. The valley is submerged under a blanket

of smog most days in the winter and with less

summer rain, the hot season becomes a dust bowl. The traffic on I-15 is growing more and more
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unbearable each year and your once quite street is experiencing more traffic too. As a people are

we going to take action to clean up our air or are we going to let Utah become uninhabitable?
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Works Cited

Boal, Jed. “UDOT Working On Long-Term Solutions For Busy Canyons.” KSLtv.com, KSL TV,

6 Feb. 2020, ksltv.com/430503/udot-working-on-long-term-solutions-for-busy-canyons/?

fbclid=IwAR3J801s9zlKGW8ZYYMeoCZR8BS2-TZIh3Ua3YFAkKPI4nQEaA&

HEALutah.org, www.healutah.org/issues/cleanair/.

Leadersforcleanair.org, leadersforcleanair.org/who-we-are/#mission-statement.

McCombs , Brady. “Utah's Poor Air Quality Under Spotlight Again.” TheSaltLakeTribune.com,

The Associated Press, 3 Dec. 2019, www.sltrib.com/news/2019/01/03/utahs-poor-air-

quality/.

Miller , Derek B. “The Business Case For Clean Air.” Utah Business Magazine, Feb. 2019, pp

101–101 http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

vid=19&sid=f4adb5a2-8a71-4fcb-86ad-9d6df2f14834

Richardson, Brenda. “Utah Ranks Among The Fastest Growing States In The Nation. Here’s

Why.” Forbes.com, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/brendarichardson/

2019/12/09/utah-ranks-among-the-fastest-growing-states-in-the-nation-heres-why/

#6d163d2c217f.

Utah Department of Environmental Quality. trend charts. https://air.utah.gov/trendcharts.php?

id=slc