Support Solar!

I just found out about this event, Solarfest, happening Saturday May 30th in Logan. From their website: "Solar fest is a fund raiser to support the development of an outreach center that will show the residents of Cache Valley how to develop our plentiful solar energy resources." Come support Solar Power in Cache Valley!

Threat to Wasatch Front air quality - urgent!

A new powerplant with preliminary approval threatens to harm the health and air quality of citizens of the Wasatch front. From the Utah Moms for Clean Air:

Consolidated Energy Co. has received preliminary approval to construct a power plant that burns petroleum coke and residual fuel oil next to the Holly Oil refinery in Woods Cross. This hazardous waste would be imported into Utah and burned making this "power plant" virtually equivalent to a new hazardous waste incinerator.

Petroleum coke is the dirtiest fossil fuel available, much dirtier than coal. It is the waste left over from refining oil. Compared to coal, combustion of petroleum coke emits higher concentrations of all the major components of air pollution. Every year this plant will release about one million pounds of pollution, including highly toxic chemicals and heavy metals that are especially dangerous to young children and the unborn. These toxic compounds are known to cause cancer, genetic damage and brain damage even in unimaginably small quantities.

There is a Division of Air Quality public hearing TONIGHT, Tuesday, January 13th at 6:30pm, where the public can voice their concern over this power plant. The meeting is at the DEQ Auditorium (Room 101), 168 N. 1950 W. in SLC.

If you can't make it to that, here are other ways to speak out about this power plant:

1. Submit your comments to the Division of Air Quality by Jan. 15, 2009.
Email: jjenks@utah.gov.

2. Write or call Gov. Huntsman and your state legislators stating your opposition to the petcoke plant.

Send correspondence to the Governor at
Governor John Huntsman, Jr.
Utah State Capitol Complex
350 North State Street, Suite 200
P. O. Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220

801-538-1000
800-705-2464

3. Send an email or letter to the Mayor of West Bountiful: jbehunin@gmail.com
West Bountiful City Hall - 550 North 800 West, West Bountiful, Utah 84087
Even if you don’t live in West Bountiful, pollutants from this proposed plant will affect you if you live along the Wasatch Front.

4. Write a letter to the editor to one or more local newspaper(s): Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Davis County Clipper

To help you write your letters, please refer to the talking points, background information, and a sample letter available here.

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This is nasty stuff, folks. Please take a minute to write to the DAQ before Thursday, letting them know your concern and opposition to this power plant. Then pass this info (or even just the Utah Moms for Clean Air website) on to friends and family members who might be affected.

Air pollution

According to the American Lung Association, Logan is ranked #6 on their list of worst air pollution cities in the U.S. for 2007. Okay, so this is just for short-term particle pollution, meaning our air doesn't suck year-round. But in the winter when we have inversions, it's bad enough and often enough to earn us a ranking among cities like L.A., Sacramento and Washington D.C. That's bad. Really bad. Here's the list of the top 10 worst cities for short-term particle pollution:

#1 Pittsburgh, PA
#2 Los Angeles, CA
#3 Fresno, CA
#4 Bakersfield, CA
#5 Birmingham, AL
#6 Logan, UT
#7 Salt Lake City, UT
#8 Sacramento, CA
#9 Detroit, MI
#10 D.C./Baltimore, MD
(Provo, UT is ranked #12)

Here's a little bit of info on particle pollution from the ALA's website:

• Particle pollution is the most dangerous of the widespread outdoor air pollutants. It is typically made up of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. Particle levels can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end (short-term) or reach high levels for most of the year (year-round).
• Breathing particle pollution can kill. Breathing particle pollution year-round can shorten life by one to three years. It triggers heart attacks, strokes, irregular heartbeats, and causes lung cancer and premature births. Particle pollution harms people in many ways, even when the particle levels are very low. Particle pollution worsens serious respiratory disorders, including asthma and causes wheezing and coughing.
• In the eastern U.S., many particles come from power plants that burn coal to produce electricity. In the western U.S., particles come from diesel buses, trucks and heavy equipment, agriculture and wood burning.
• The body’s natural defenses help to cough or sneeze larger particles out of our bodies. But smaller particles can be so tiny that they can become lodged deep in the lungs and cause major damage, or pass from the lungs into the blood stream and then throughout the rest of the body.

That's scary stuff!

The ALA also assigned a grade to the counties of Utah for our short-term particle pollution. Care to guess what Cache County got? Yep, we failed. Though if it makes us feel any better, most of the other counties in Utah that were evaluated failed as well.

Now for the resources: Check here for the air quality forecast. Want to help make a difference in our air? Utah Moms for Clean Air are an active group trying to make political and community changes to improve our air quality. Or check out the Choose Clean Air website from the UT DEQ for ideas on minimizing your contribution to the air quality problem.

Earth Day 2008

Today is Earth Day. I have no desire to get preachy right now. There are things we can all do to be more environmentally friendly. We know that. I just want to share a few things that I do that I feel good about when it comes to my impact on the earth. We all do what we can, and what works best for us. This is what I like to do to lighten the load on the earth:

Reduce:

• I registered with CatalogChoice. This website helps you stop getting all those annoying catalogs that you never wanted in the first place and that you can't seem to get off their mailing lists. It's really easy, and saves paper.

• I buy local whenever I can, decreasing the amount of fuel used to bring my food to me. I shop at Sweet Peas Marketplace, a small local-owned store. I'll buy produce at the Cache Valley Gardener's Market, which starts up again on May 10th. I buy beef and lamb that are raised and butchered locally, supporting a family farm.
  

• We will be planting a big garden with the neighbors, and are hoping to grow a LOT of our produce for the year (so if you know anyone who enjoys endless hours of canning tomatoes in the summer heat, send them our way in August!).
  

• I should do more, but as the weather gets better I'll use more forms of alternative transportation. The bus system here is great for getting around and up to campus. Plus it's free! Miss Doodle loves her bike trailer, and biking is good exercise too!
  

Reuse:

• A great resource for re-using and re-purposing stuff is Freecycle. You can offer things up to people in the community that you'd like to see be re-used and kept out of the landfill. You can get things for free rather than having to search the thrift stores, and you can get things (like scrap lumber) that thrift stores won't take. It's great!

• I shop thrift stores. It's a great place to get inexpensive kids clothes (which they're just going to get dirty and outgrow soon anyhow). Plus they usually support a good cause, like CAPSA.

• We have a lot of reusable cloth products, from cloth shopping bags to napkins, dish towels, and of course, cloth diapers. I like the dish towels and napkins because they're sturdy, easy to clean and it's a lot less paper products going in the trash. The cloth diapers, well - they're just so dang cute!
  

• We use reusable mugs and water bottles for transporting liquids and staying hydrated. Again, less waste.
  

When we can't reduce our use or reuse what we do have, we recycle it! Packaging matters, so whenever I can I buy things in less packaging or in re-usable or recyclable packaging.

Happy Earth Day, everyone!