Governor announces clean air initiative

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert announced a clean air initiative Tuesday that some advocates worry lacks teeth to aggressively improve Utah's poor air quality.

Against a backdrop of energy-efficient diesel trucks, an electric car and a retrofitted school bus, Herbert spoke about the Utah Clean Air Partnership, or U-CAIR, at a Questar compressed natural gas fueling station. The initiative is designed to encourage residents and industries to do their part to improve air quality without "the heavy hand of government."

"All of us can do something to improve Utah's air quality," Herbert said.

This year, the American Lung Association named the Provo-Salt Lake City-Ogden area the fifth worst offender in the country for short-term particle pollution. Herbert noted the state's air quality remains a problem despite improvement over the past two decades.

Although he spoke optimistically about how the people of Utah would respond to the initiative, Herbert offered only generalities on what the initiative would accomplish.

"I had hoped to have a few more details," said Karen Hevel-Mingo, executive director of the nonprofit Breathe Utah.

She was encouraged, however, that the governor had made the issue a priority.

"Air quality is a tough thing," she said. "It's a complex, complicated issue. It's not coming from one source."

Herbert said the initiative, which he briefly mentioned in his State of the State address last week, would be a voluntary effort that relied on education and partnership rather than regulation. He pointed to the results of the Slow the Flow water conservation campaign that has led to a more than 15 percent decrease in water usage since 2000 as proof a similar public awareness campaign would work.

The U-CAIR website currently asks people to make a "clean air pledge" and lists 50 things people can do to improve air quality like walking instead of driving, keeping all solvents and paints in airtight containers and using a push mower.

While an effective public awareness campaign could encourage individuals and families to do their part to improve air quality, Dr. Brian Moench, president of the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said it's unrealistic to expect industries to follow suit.