What a joy to see the headline that Gov. Gary Herbert is prioritizing clean air in his budget proposal.
For a brief moment I was excited that he was using the power of his office to address this issue. And the dollars allotted were not minor.
But after reading the article, I saw he was not serious in getting to the big core issue. Many of his proposals will help some to minimize poor air quality by promoting telecommuting, free bus days, helping people replace wood burning stoves, more electric car charging stations and updating snowblowers; all good, small steps.
But if this was a real priority Utah needs to move its dependence on dirty coal (which creates the energy to charge those cars) to a cleaner source. In one of the sunniest states, with accessible land, why isn’t he calling for solar development? It would be good for our air and for the economy.
Use some of the earmarked money to retrain those that make their living from coal. Let’s harness this energy and make a real difference.
Susan Corth, Salt Lake City