By terry marasco

Gov. Gary Herbert stated in an interview regarding the U-CAIR Clean the Air initiative that industry is doing its part and you, the public, need to step up to the plate and reduce air pollution. In fact, if one reads Utah Department of Environmental Quality and federal data regarding air-pollutant contributors, the reverse is true.

Utah Division of Air Quality data trends reveal that air pollutants from mobile sources (cars) have decreased hugely over the past 20 years. For example, Salt Lake County data show that in the years 2002-2008, carbon monoxide from cars (mobile sources) decreased by 37 percent. In the same years in Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Cache, Tooele, and Juab counties, trends for pollutants increased in one or more categories in each county (carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, PM 10 and PM 2.5), but many are up for all counties. Most decreased primarily due to cleaner cars.

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Some of the largest increases are in the most densely populated counties — Salt Lake and Utah counties, with about 56 percent of the state population.

It’s not enough for the governor to ask us to drive less without asking industry to pollute less. Point sources are increasing (refineries, mines, power plants) and are the easiest to mitigate, as the smoke stacks, for example, are in one place.

The development of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality has not evolved in favor of the health of Utah citizens. The DEQ was created to address the air pollution issue raised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but its direction changed, with action by the Utah Legislature, to instead advance industrial permitting.

The Legislature passed a law stating that the state cannot impose tighter restrictions than the EPA. An example of Utah’s pro-industry philosophy: Utah has allowed Kennecott Copper to expand production in two clear violations of the Clean Air Act.

In appealing to the merits of volunteerism, Herbert said that the air is better than a decade ago. But he should have mentioned that it was the EPA that directed Utah to clean up its act, not a volunteer effort by Utah. Yet, he believes that volunteerism will carry the day. It hasn’t, and likely will not.

It is encouraging, though, to hear the governor and the Legislature discuss air quality. Pollution and air quality issues were not in the legislative or executive lexicons a few years ago. Task forces are forming like mushrooms after a heavy rain — HB70 in the Legislature, the Salt Lake Chamber’s Air Quality Task Force, the Governor’s U-CAIR Clean Air Challenge.

But business concerns, not health concerns, appear to be driving the initiatives. "The worst air in the nation" is not a good business draw. The danger in a citizen-only strategy is that citizens reduce pollutants, but industry backfills and we stay in the same place.

Asking citizens to take primary responsibility for the problem when they have accounted for significant reductions already, and at the same time letting industry off the hook, depreciates the credibility of the U-CAIR campaign.

If I were the governor, I’d call the top 10 point-source CEOs into a closed room and say: "I put my reputation on the table by asking Utah citizens to do their share. Now what will you do?"

Not another word. Let the CEOs state their contributions, in writing. I would wager that they would come to the table in a New York minute (45 seconds).

Terry Marasco is a member of the Utah Clean Air Alliance and a member of the PM 2.5 State Implementation Plan workgroup at the Utah Division of Air Quality.