This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay request from Utah, other states and various utility and coal companies who say that President Obama's climate-change plan results in the Environmental Protection Agency "overstepping its powers." The climate change plan, among other measures, requires the states to move from fossil-fueled power plants to less polluting forms of energy.

Reading this news report on a day when most of us in northern Utah awakened to lung-crippling smog, I was amazed once again by how the movers and shakers of Utah are able to delude themselves into thinking that all is well in Zion. Calling the gunk we breathe "haze" doesn't mitigate the damaging effect it has on our bodies.

Yes, moving away from fossil fuel in order to clean our air will cost money, and changing our individual energy consumption patterns will be difficult. But we are out of other options. All you have to do is inhale to know this. Please insist that our representatives stop their knee-jerk reactions to federal initiatives and instead direct their attention to cleaning our air.

Nancy F. Appleby

Salt Lake City