Group rallies for cleaner air

A noisy, sign-waving crowd took over the Capitol rotunda on Wednesday to present state lawmakers with a petition signed by more than 5,000 residents urging action on the state's poor air quality.

Dozens of men, women and small children covered the stairs in front of the House chamber for about half an hour, many holding balloons and signs that read, "Our kids deserve clean air," "People before profits" and "We all share the air." Several people in the crowd wore protective masks on their faces.

The rally, which was organized by Utah Moms for Clean Air, urged lawmakers to approve a proposal currently stuck in committee and to reject three others they claimed would make it harder for the state to move from its reliance on fossil fuels to the use of cleaner, renewable sources of energy.

Utah Moms for Clean Air founder Cherise Udell led the crowd in a chant of "Pollution solutions now!" and said she and the group were there because they wanted to let elected officials know how important clean air is to all Utahns.

"These children are forced to smoke 11 packs of cigarettes on multiple days each year," Udell said. "That's absolutely not OK. These children can't protect themselves so we have to protect them."

Udell applauded the crowd for its show of support and predicted that within 10 years there would be "cleaner air in Utah."

Senate Minority Leader Patricia Jones, D-Salt Lake, told the crowd that clean air is not a Democratic or Republican issue, but rather an economic issue for everyone in the state.

Jones said the state spends millions of dollars trying to lure new businesses to the state and told the crowd "it makes no sense to me to have them come here and see the air that we are forced to breathe."

Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment president Brian Moench said his interest in having cleaner air in the state is personal. Five members of his family are currently being treated for cancer.

Moench described a recent e-mail he had received from a local teacher telling him about a 14-year-old student who died suddenly of an acute asthma attack during one of the Salt Lake Valley's many "red alert" air quality days.

"There are real human tragedies involved in our air pollution," Moench said. "There are actual lives at stake."

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