I awoke on a recent January morning to a dense inversion of smog — fog combined with the too familiar visible haze of pollution we all see in the Salt Lake and most Utah valleys year round, winter and summer.
We all know the sequence. A storm typically washes out our soup bowl but, within 24 hours, we can see the haze of polluted gunk, ozone, nitrous oxide, pm 2.5 particulates and, of course, the invisible CO2 emissions.
But, a breath of fresh air. The Jan. 25 article by Judy Fahys in The Salt Lake Tribune describes the Utah Roadmap of the University of Utah’s economic think tank as a giant step forward for Utah, if our Legislature takes action.
A huge thank you to the high school students and Piper Christian early on, to Dr. Brian Moench of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, to Rob Davies of Utah State University and to Natalie Gochnour, as always, for her work for our state. And to the various anti-pollution advocacy groups, Gov. Gary Herbert, and all 37 members of the advisory group for their work over the past six months to shape a Utah proposal to control pollution and emissions in the air over all of our state.
Now if our Legislature can spend the money and pass the [bipartisan] bills necessary to accomplish the road map’s goals, to reflect Utah values and to create a better future for children and grandchildren, it will bring joy to the heart of this retired pediatrician, and to the lungs of all of our people.
Tom Metcalf, Murray
