Comments about ‘Help clear the air’

As the buildout of TRAX continues it will become a better and better alternative to driving, helping with our chronic fowl air (I can't believe the EPA hasn't lowered the boom on us). It's helpling and is going to help a lot more in the future. One major mistake, however, has been the absence of a TRAX estension into South Davis County. Frontrunner doesn't help those of us on the south end of Davis County (and there are increasing numbers of us).

Bunch of Doctors and EPA hogwash. Polution is good for you. Love it! Put another log on the fire Martha! Don't need no regulation cough cough caaaaaaghhhhhhhhh good thing I earned my Medicare and SS!

The photo is identical to one in my memory from 1970 when I (New Yorker) took an early Autumn road trip to Nevada and passed through Salt Lake City. It was the worst air pollution encountered along the way and the only pollution that was clearly (no pun intended) evident.

As a tourist, I assumed the air quality had something to do with the salt (mines, lake, etc.) as well as the inversion; it was, after all, the obvious ingredient that was missing from other locations. Does salt have any impact on air quality? I'm really curious now. Thanks!

It is difficult to attract new business and industry to Utah because of our air quality. It signals a poor quality of life to business development managers, and executives fear that once Utah and the EPA start working on air quality improvement, it will require businesses to reduce operations and the transportation of goods.

While TRAX and hybrid cars are helping to mitigate the problem, in the coming decade, the rapid adoption of plug-in electric vehicles will reduce the need for burning gasoline in the valley (though it means burning more natural gas and coal at Delta and southern Utah), but it will reduce local pollution.

Plug-ins are the answer, however, as with new renewable energy power plants being developed, electric vehicles will then emit no pollution and reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

We need more telecommuting jobs in Utah. Businesses in Utah could take a stand and make their workplaces telecommuter-friendly. Make Utah the telecommuting capitol of the world.

There ain't no harm in breathin' that purrty orange-brown air!
That just more lies from the mouths of them liberals!

I think it's trapped air and all the chimmney smoke from wood fires. Here in Az in a certain part of town there are houses that were allowed to have fire places. When I drive through that part of town on the first few chilly days of winter (60 degrees :) it's like a fog rolling out of that area. I don't know why it doesn't go up farther but you can tell it smells like wood.

Technically it's illegal to burn wood most of the time here but it's not enforced.

When you can't see the mountians in the valley there's a problem.

For more evidence, simply taste the air.

Nonsense!
Just more hatred from the Mormon-haters trying to convince us this AIN'T the Place!

America was zoned to need cars to benefit automakers so it's largely illegal to work near where you live. If this is ever reversed we may see a significant change.

Utah is against environmental protection efforts. It might hurt the pocketbooks of the corporate world, our masters.

New View | 3:45 a.m.

If a picture like this is the worst air polution you've ever seen, you've never been to LA in the morning before the smog burns off.

Your assumption that it has something to do with the salt or the lake, etc, are sort of silly. We know what it is. It's a combination of the topography (a high mountain valley) and the weather (the cold air goes down, so it gets caught and collected in the valley).

Various areas of the country have their own issues. In San Francisco they have the mist comming inland, in LA they have the topography that collects stagnant air. And I've lived in North Carolina and Upstate New York and seen the same type of problems in mountain valleys.

It's nothing to do with salt.


There are 3 factors:
-Topology (can't change that unless we buldoze the mountains)
-The weather (Global_Warming_science has proven that's very difficult to change).
-Our emmissions (we work on that, with no_burn days, no_drive days, etc).


We should continue doing everything we can to control #3, But the problem will always exist because of #1 & #2.

Hard to attract new business | 6:55 a.m.

Where do you think the electricity for you "plug in" comes from? Hint... Burning coal.

So your ablivious assumption that your plug-in generates no polution are assinine (until the power you use when you plug-in is generated by hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, etc) which is nowhere near reality anytime soon.



The solution is NOT plug-ins. Driving them is just like driving a coal-powered-car until we get newer/better electricity generation technology.


Try thinking things through for yourself, and try to get PAST the most superficial level fead to you by the man-made global warming media machine.

Hard to attract new business | 6:55 a.m.

I hardly believe that we have a hard time attracting new businesses to SLC because of our occasional winter air problems.

If it were a chronic problem (like LA, ect) I could see your point. But it's mostly just in the winter (When the cold air is trapped and we are burning to stay warm). Hardly a reason for businesses to be afraid of the Salt Lake Valley. All other areas have their occasional weather phenonena and polution problems to deal with, just like we do. So if businesses are afraid of a few bad air days... They wouldn't be able to locate ANYWHERE.



In my opinion you touched on the problem, but the solution is the OPPOSITE of what you propose. We don't need to ATTRACT more businesses/people. We need to have LESS businesses/people in the valley. We can't change the topology of the valley, we can't control the weather, so we need to control our emmissions. You can only do that by controling population growth.

We tend to want to GROW at unsustainable rates. We can't keep doing that.

There needs to be a tightening of restrictions on the DEQ requirements for cars - making sure that the old cars and trucks are consuming fuel efficiently, as well as cleaner coal burning. The EPA has lowered it standards, but there needs to be a higher standard of expelling CO2 into the air from plants and businesses. There are also refineries that are located near metropolitan areas, and that's not going to change. What does need to change is better ways of looking at this situation and implementing a clean air act for SLC.

I am grateful we have concerned citizens and medical personnel that are attempting to make Utah an "even better place to live" environmentally speaking.
I hope that we as a community can listen and learn. I plan to support those that are trying to make a difference for Utah and positively impact the health of my children and the future.

It's easy to see where the visible polution is coming from the day after a storm. On a clear morning you can see the gray smoke collecting around the refineries and in the neighborhoods where people are burning wood to stay warm. When it's clear, you can see where it's comming from and where it collects. Eventually it fills the whole valey and then it is less obvious where it is actually comming from.



Cars are probably the biggest contributors to the problem, but their exhaust is less visible than the wood smoke, so it is less obvous where it comes from and where it is collecting, but it's there.


We need to burn less and drive less in the winter when we have high pressure allowing air to stagnate in the valley and cold temperaturs at ground level and warmer air aloft which traps the air near the ground and keeps it there till the weather changes and blows it out.

We don't have to stop living, breathing, etc. Just limit burning to cleaner sources and only drive when REQUIRED and consolidate trips as much as possible.

'Try thinking things through for yourself, and try to get PAST the most superficial level fead to you by the man-made global warming media machine.'


So, tree-huggers made smog?

The far-righters of Utah are so stupid that when they look out and see and breathe the gunk they say,
"What's the big deal? It's only a little haze."

It might help if the lights were timed so that you don't have to stop every two blocks in Salt Lake City.

Tekakaromatagi