Deseret News
Published January 17, 2017
By: Amy Joi O’Donoghue
SALT LAKE CITY — Advocates are recommending a 19-point proposal to Utah leaders if they want to get serious about conquering the state’s nagging pollution problem, including an outright ban on all two-stroke, gas-powered lawn equipment, statewide emissions testing for vehicles, and tighter industry controls.
The groups that include HEAL Utah, Physicians for a Healthy Environment, Utah Moms for Clean Air and Western Resource Advocates held a news conference Tuesday to detail their blueprint for action, which also calls for shuttering plans to divert water from the Bear River to meet future water supply demands.
Such a diversion, they argue, would add to the Great Salt Lake’s already staggering challenges of historically low lake levels and exposed lake beds, which fill the air with wind-whipped dust during storms.
“Too often we hear policymakers say that there is little we can do to address dangerous air pollution,” said Ashley Soltysiak, HEAL Utah policy director. “In fact, there are common-sense policy proposals that we can and must embrace to ensure that Utah thrives for decades to come.”
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