This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah has provided a target-rich environment for editorial writers over the last several days. To wit:

Nature no excuse for allowing harmful ozone — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"Poison that is found in nature is still poison. Poison that is made more dangerous by factors beyond the control of any human cannot be ignored just because nobody intended to befoul the air we breathe.

"The federal Environmental Protection Agency is trying to live up to its name in putting forth new standards for the amount of ozone it will allow in the atmosphere of Utah's Uinta Basin and much of the Intermountain West. As it does so, the clear difficulty of the problem cannot be an excuse for failing to solve it. ..."

With air quality, every bit helps — Logan Herald-Journal Editorial

"When a Cache Valley winter is unseasonably balmy, as has been the case this year, it's easy to forget about the inversion. With no red days so far, those 'worst air in the nation' headlines are a distant memory.

"But we know that it only takes one cold spell to bring back the gray air, which is why several recent developments are good news for the valley's long-term health. ..."

Utah must first see if Stericycle cooked the books — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"If the allegations in the Utah Division of Air Quality's notice of violation against Stericycle's medical waste incinerator in North Salt Lake are true, the question is not why the company is receiving state assistance to move to a new home in a less-populated area. Not why it is being allowed to pay half of the levied $2.3 million fine if shuts down its current plant within three years.

"The question is: Why is this company allowed to operate in Utah at all? ..."

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Highways need more money, better planning — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"Utah lawmakers, like their counterparts in Congress, have been trying to squeeze more miles of highway construction and repair out of gasoline tax rates that haven't budged in more than 15 years.

"No matter how tax-averse our elected officials may be, or think that we are, it is time to admit that elected officials may not have been doing us any favors by pursuing policies that have not kept up with demand for basic public services.

"But those officials should also be aware that, unless some serious thinking goes into how Utah will handle its expected boom in population, there isn't enough money, or enough concrete, in the world to keep up with demand. A more holistic approach to the problem, using data now being assembled by Envision Utah, is needed. ..."

" ... Lawmakers should seize the opportunity to make at least some investment in future transit, even though it may require increases in taxing levels. A viable infrastructure is essential to future economic growth, as the coalition has convincingly argued. ..."

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Objections provide a way out of prison plan — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"Members of the state commission tasked with finding a new home for the state's primary prison — and the lawmakers who created that body — were always on thin ice, with questionable justifications for the drive to move the facility at all.

"An excellent face-saving opportunity to rethink that assumption was provided Wednesday. That's when residents and elected leaders of most of the communities that had made the Utah Prison Relocation Commission's short list were both outspoken and precise in their objections. ..."

State prison does not belong in Utah County — Provo Daily Herald Editorial

"We cannot imagine any site in Utah County that would be a viable location for the relocation of the Utah State Prison. ..."

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Healthy Utah, sick politics — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

" ... The governor is forced to pretend — perhaps to believe — that this hybrid plan is in any way cheaper, less bureaucratic or more helpful to working families, and their employers, than a flat expansion of Medicaid would have been. It is based on the demented idea that a system of private health care insurance, the primary cause for America's unique status as the home of the most expensive and least effective health care system in the developed world, is worth propping up. ..."

Support Healthy Utah plan — Ogden Standard-Examiner Editorial

"Gov. Gary Herbert is to be commended for working out Utah's alternative to blanket Medicaid coverage for scores of thousands of residents who fell through the cracks of the Affordable Care Act. Legislators would be foolish to reject or tinker with Herbert's plan, which followed extensive negotiations with the federal government. ..."

Support the Healthy Utah plan — Deseret News Editorial

" ... The governor's plan is an innovative way to provide insurance for the tens of thousands of Utahns who currently fall through the cracks between Medicaid and the subsidized coverage from the ACA. It has attracted support from Republicans and Democrats and a host of community leaders who recognize that if the state doesn't step in to help these people, cities and counties will be left holding the bag. ..."

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Land transfer would tie Utah's future to oil — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

"Utah's political leaders have received the analysis they sought. A report from three state universities says Utah can afford to take over more than half the state from the federal government, and may even be able to make more money on it than the feds have. ...

" ... A land transfer would be more closely tying our future to … OPEC. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also would like high oil prices, but sputtering demand and the success of fracking has produced a glut. Oil prices are down 40 percent since June. Using its market leverage, OPEC is keeping prices low just long enough to squeeze out more marginal producers. Then, it hopes, prices will rise as supply drops. ..."

"By coincidence, a 784-page state-commissioned study on the viability of Utah taking control of all federal land within its borders was released on the same week U.S. crude fell to $65.69 per barrel. That price still is dropping.

"Proponents of the land transfer, which is mandated by a 2012 state law but isn't likely to get beyond the objections of Washington, would find this coincidence unfortunate. It is, rather, instructive — and cautionary. ..."

Contract with feds over land — Ogden Standard-Examiner Editorial

"Although a comprehensive report released shows that Utah can afford to manage 31.2 million acres of federal lands in the state, we believe a better, more reasonable solution for the state is to negotiate a contract with the feds to oversee the lands. The new contract would, of course, need to increase the amount of money Utah receives from the use of the federal lands. The study could be used to achieve such a contract to our state's advantage. ..."

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A petulant GOP lawsuit — Ogden Standard-Examiner Editorial

"Hopefully a federal lawsuit filed Monday by the Utah Republican Party will fall flat on its face, efficiently dismissed by a judge. The petulant legal effort by the state GOP is an attempt to reverse Senate Bill 54, which provides an avenue for candidates in Utah to bypass the party conventions and get their names on a primary ballot so long as they received enough signatures via a petition effort. ..."

The party strikes back against SB54 — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

" ... If the Legislature goes back on that deal that led to SB54, all it will do is verify that the existing system is too self-serving and needs to be replaced. ..."