Most Important to Clean Air? Change Our Political Leaders
Sunday at the Salt Lake City Library, Dr. Brian Moench, of Utah Physicians for a Health Environment, spoke on “Utah’s Air Pollution: Should You Give Up and Move Out of State?” The answer for some might be yes, but most of us see enough hope ahead that we will stay here and make the difficult changes necessary to clean up the air.
What can be done, in addition to ordinary Utahns acknowledging the problem and changing our lifestyles? Dr. Moench say we
need to “change our political leaders” by letting them know what a high priority it is to deal with air pollution.
“That’s the most important part of this whole picture,” he said, adding the issue cuts across political and economic boundaries.
We need to be informed about what the Utah politicians are doing about air pollution.
Two months ago, a legislative committee panned a task force recommendation for raising an additional $3 million a year to step up air monitoring. And, in the 2007 Legislature, lawmakers kept spending on environmental programs flat while infusing most other state programs with some of the $1.6 billion budget surplus.
Governor Jon Huntsman Jr, on the other hand, has made clean air one of his top three priorities.
In an interesting counter to the false dichotomy set up by some Utah business people between caring for our air and keeping our economy healthy, Dr. Moench pointed out that pollution-related health care costs are a drain on Utah’s economy. He said, air pollution causes about 2,000 premature deaths per year in Utah. This number does not, of course, include those whose respiratory and cardiopulmonary problems are caused or worsened by air pollution but who don’t lose their lives. Clean Air that we can all breathe in common is clearly best for Utah’s economy.
- Read the whole story: “Utah’s air: Expert says breathing pollution is like smoking five cigarettes a day,” Judy Fahys, December 10, 2007.