I am a transplant to Utah. After four years here, I am still constantly amazed by the natural beauty of the mountains surrounding the Salt Lake Valley. Unfortunately, the mountain view is often blocked by inversion smog for days or weeks at a time. As a native of Florida, I am deeply disappointed by the lack of action to regulate pollution sources along the Wasatch Front.
Floridians are used to fighting for our environment. Delicate ecosystems and water sources are common topics of heated debate. Citizens have saved the Everglades, Tampa Bay, numerous springs, mangrove forests and countless other valuable natural resources. I am calling on the citizens of Utah to DO BETTER! SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS NATURAL RESOURCES before it is too late.
Imagine the visitors who arrive during an inversion and all the wonderful aspects of our community they miss! They go home and report how disgusting our city is and complain about not being able to even go outside. This could happen during the Olympics and would brand our city as the dirtiest in the nation or world for a very long time. It could also affect the long-awaited opening of the Salt Lake Temple. Followers traveling from all over the world might miss out on the experience of a lifetime and instead be exposed to brown air that tastes like rotten eggs and sticks to your teeth. No thanks!
Why are refinery smokestacks billowing at full force during inversions? I am offended by the interstate signs encouraging me to “stay home or carpool” when I am driving past a dozen smokestacks pumping out high volumes of white or brown smoke and sometimes flames. Do Utahns know that environmental regulations — grounded in science — work? Perhaps refineries would install better filters if they were “inconvenienced” during inversions. Utah citizens should make that happen.
Audrey Robbins
Salt Lake City