It’s no secret that over the last several years, a growing
concern for the quality of the air in Provo and in Utah has become an issue
which resonates strongly with residents and citizens striving to be environmentally
aware and health conscious. Provo, together with a few other Utah communities,
has found itself ranked high on the list of worst air quality nationally during
winter months as reported around the state and country. (Daily Herald article here, Provo Council Blog post here, Salt Lake Tribune article here).
The fact that Utah’s air is not always the cleanest can in some part can be attributed to its unique inversion effect (Read more here).
In this post I would like to 1) review solutions which have been implemented or proposed and 2) explore and promote discussion on what other steps may be taken to ameliorate the situation.
What are some potential solutions which have already been
proposed or enacted which can help clean up the air in our communities?
- Provo has participated in a “Clear the Air”
challenge, which the Council has encouraged during meetings with Provo
Neighborhood Chairs here. This initiative challenges
residents to drive less, and/or drive smarter during winter inversions.
- In March 2013, KSL reported that some cities
along the Wasatch (Salt Lake City, Park City, and Holladay) have adopted
‘No Idling” ordinances to help mitigate poor air quality during winter
inversions by encouraging drivers to shut off their cars when possible.
This may be a solution that Provo could consider. Read more here.
- Provo Mayor John Curtis has already instituted
a city policy of “no idling” to help promote better air quality during
winter months. Read the policy here, and view the mayor’s own
thoughts in a post on his blog here.
- Utah Governor Herbert has formed a “Utah Clean
Air Action Team”, a cooperative group of concerned citizens, businesses,
and thinkers who aim to help educate the public about how they may help
clean the air. This group focuses on how individual travel, shopping,
energy conservation, and ecology each contribute to the state’s air
quality. Their site has details here, Deseret News has a good article on the latest developments here.
- Some groups advocate measures such as allowing
free travel on FrontRunner, TRAX or other mass transit services during
“red air” days; or enacting ordinances against wood burning during winter
inversions. These may be solutions
that Provo could either support or enact.
- The Utah Department of Environmental
Quality has also spoken out about the unique
geographic challenges which contribute to Utah’s air quality woes, and has
urged congress and the EPA to not take a “cookie cutter” approach to
policy for unique Western states which share the particular difficulties
associated with this issue. (Department spokesperson as quoted in Deseret
News, here)
- The Provo Council has worked on a Bicycle
Master Plan to help the city become more bicycle friendly and less reliant
on vehicles, but this is less effective in winter months when more people
drive rather than bike. A draft of the Bicycle Master Plan may be found here.
So what are potential solutions for Utah and for Provo? Are
any of the proposals, which are either being enacted by other cities in Utah,
policies which Provo should follow? How can we take the steps promoted by the
Governor’s Utah Clear Air Partnership, and be conscientious consumers of energy
and transportation?
What are your thoughts? What can be done to help clean the
air? Do you feel the Governors’ solutions are adequate? How can we educate
Utahns and Provo residents about how their behavior contributes to air quality?
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