Care for the Environment
Cultivation and good stewardship ought to characterize the relationship between humanity and creation. The earth and its fruits are universally destined for the benefit of all people. Both government and civil society have a responsibility to protect natural resources, now and for future generations.
We must teach habits of conservation to our children both at home and in our schools, and we must put them into practice ourselves.
Utah is known for its outdoor beauty: the land, mountains, and water we call home. With that comes a number of environmental issues we face on a regular basis. The struggle for clean air is real. The yearly fight against inversion seems like a never-ending war. The American Lung Association released its State of the Air 2020 report this month which showed the Salt Lake City-Orem area was ranked 11th in the country for high ozone days out of 227 metropolitan areas. We also ranked No. 7 for short-term particle pollution out of 201 metropolitan areas.
Learn what causes an inversion and what you can do to show you care about Utah's air quality.
Utah’s struggles with good air quality are due to our geographic landscape and air pollution. It gets especially bad during winter inversions,
We as Utahns must work to control emissions from our cars and homes. Carpool and don't idle. Use public transit. Take energy-saving measures at home.
We commend Former Gov. Gary Herbert for his efforts to invest more money in an effort to reduce annual emissions into Utah’s air by 25 percent by 2026. However, with Utah’s ever-increasing population, it seems to be not enough.
We encourage residents to check out ucair.org for ideas on how you can improve the air quality so as to limit the economic and health impacts of poor air quality. You can also check air quality in your area at air.utah.gov.