This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Does anyone truly believe that the Wasatch Front can absorb the projected 50 percent increase in population by 2040 and continue down our established path of business as usual when it comes to air quality?
Business as usual: where we continue approving permits that allow the expansion of recognized major polluters such as refineries.
Business as usual: where we continue building freeways and increasing road capacity to accommodate the projected population growth with the full knowledge that expanding our roadway capacity induces more automobile traffic and generates more dangerous automobile emissions.
Perhaps, the population will reach a stabilization point when the air becomes so dangerous during inversions that the number of people having to flee the region for health reasons balances the number of new people moving here. Eventually, with the realization that the health concerns from air pollution more than offset our former quality of life, people will no longer be attracted to live in the Wasatch Front.
With my adult onset asthma, I had better put a "For Sale" sign on my house before everyone else does.
Chad Mullins
Holladay