The Urgent Need to Shift Away from Fossil Fuels
Utah relies heavily on fossil fuels like coal and gas for electricity (85%), despite national trends moving away from coal. This dependence contributes to carbon pollution, driving climate change and causing severe weather.
Coal
Gas
Wind
Solar
Utah's Current Energy Portfolio
Hover over each image to discover Utah’s energy generation. Note that biomass, petroleum, hydroelectric, and geothermal together make up just 3% of Utah’s energy mix.
Jeff Clay/ClayHaus Fotografía
Environmental and Health Impacts
Fossil fuel energy sources pose a significant threat to our environment and health, disproportionately impacting children, the elderly, and vulnerable communities that are often socially and economically disadvantaged. Key environmental and public health effects include:
Effects on Health
- Elevated levels of air pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have led to a surge in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, including lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. Early exposure to these pollutants also increases the risk of developmental impairment, asthma, and cancer.
Effects on the Environment
- Escalating greenhouse gas emissions from burning of fossil fuels exacerbates a range of environmental health risks, especially to vulnerable populations. These include exposure to extreme weather events like heat waves and heat-related disease, flash floods, drought, wildfires, the spread of infectious diseases, food and water insecurity, and negative mental health impacts that strain our healthcare systems.
Inequity in Environmental and Health effects
Living in proximity to fossil fuel extraction and refineries is associated with a number of health risks, including respiratory conditions, cancers, cardiovascular disease, liver damage, and poor birth outcomes. Workers in these locations face particularly severe health and safety risks. Furthermore, the disposal of the waste produced during fossil fuel extraction and processing leaves communities vulnerable to toxic substances and waste that may leach into water and soil.
OUR GOAL AND PROGRAMS
We believe that our energy system should be built for the people it serves.
That’s why HEAL Utah works to advance a clean energy future that not only reduces emissions and stabilizes the climate, but also promotes adaptation, resilience, health equity, and economic opportunity in our communities.
Advance Renewable Energy
HEAL supports policies that prioritize and incentivize solar, wind, and geothermal energy production, storage, and battery technology.
- Net-100% Renewable Communities: HEAL supports Utahns ability to achieve net-100% renewable electricity that is reliable and affordable
Support Utah’s Energy Communities
HEAL works to ensure that funding, support, and clean energy resources and policies are geographically targeted and based on the needs of the community
- Quality Jobs and a Clean Economy: HEAL Utah works alongside a coalition of labor, environmental, and advocates to ensure communities and workers are part of Utah’s clean energy future.
Advance Energy Efficiency and Electrification
HEAL works to accelerate safe and equitable mobility options throughout the state as a means of reducing energy consumption for passenger travel
- 435 Statewide Transit: HEAL Utah works alongside a statewide coalition of community leaders, members, and organizations dedicated to improving public transit in rural and micropolitan areas of Utah that use the ‘435’ zip code.
- Equitable Micro-Mobility: HEAL Utah works alongside a coalition of health and transportation advocates to ensure communities have access to equitable and safe micro-mobility options
- Equitable EV Charging & Readiness: HEAL works to ensure equitable access is part of our EV infrastructure planning.
- Sustainable Building: Codes: HEAL works to broaden access to net-zero mass transit and buildings
ACTÚA
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Recursos en inglés:
- Centro para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades: Efectos del clima en la salud
- Departamento de Salud de Utah: Cambio climático y salud pública en Utah
- New York Times: Respuestas breves a preguntas difíciles sobre el cambio climático
- Grist: Desglosamos lo que hará el cambio climático, región por región
- Grist: Decisiones personales para reducir tu contribución al cambio climático
- Efectos del cambio climático global de la NASA
- Mapa de opiniones sobre el clima de Yale
- Índice de cambio climático de Utah
- Unión de Científicos Preocupados: Los costes ocultos de los combustibles fósiles
- Programa de Investigación del Cambio Global de Estados Unidos: The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: Una evaluación científica
- Organización Mundial de la Salud: Cambio climático y salud
- Eficiencia energética para todos: el elevado coste de la energía en las zonas rurales de Estados Unidos
- Climate Central: El alto coste del calor
- Vox: Clima 2050: América se está calentando rápidamente. Descubre cómo cambiará el clima de tu ciudad en solo una generación.
- https://www.safety.com/safety-in-the-face-of-the-climate-crisis/