Know your air quality. Know how it will affect your health. Get some ideas to clean it up. Put them into a plan. Tools and Information Health symptom tracker for pollution episodes. Details on Utah’s Recess Guidance program. Short and medium-range weather forecast. Track Air Action days and see an Animated forecast of Utah pollution…
Ozone can harm our health. That’s why Utah DEQ is urging everybody to make this a “Zero Bad-Air Days” summer by making small changes that reduce emissions.
Winterizing your home is one of the easiest ways to cut down on personal emissions. It also saves you money on energy costs. Here are a few steps to take before the weather gets any worse.
By Donna Kemp Spangler Utah’s winter chill is creeping upon us, and with that comes the infamous inversions, that for perhaps 10 terrible days of the year have downright frightful and unhealthy air quality. (And no, Phil, it’s not Smaug, it’s smog. ) We know we can’t completely prevent them. It is partly an act…
By Bailey Toolson, Guest Blogger DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. Our mission at UCAIR is to make it easier for individuals, businesses, and communities to make changes that improve our air.…
By Donna Kemp Spangler I understand people’s frustrations when they take the time to submit a written or verbal public comment on a regulatory proposal and at the end of the process, the final rule or regulation doesn’t seem to reflect their comment. They walk away with a feeling their comment doesn’t really matter. That’s…
By Tammie Bostick-Cooper, Guest Blogger September marks the 10th year of the Idle-Free Governor’s Declaration in Utah. Our state had the first Idle-Free campaign in the nation, and it all started in Salt Lake City. Since 2007, more than 50 Utah mayors have signed the declaration. And in 2011, Salt Lake City–where it all began–became…
By Clayton Johnson, Guest Blogger DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. Local nonprofit organizations Utah Clean Energy and Utah’s Hogle Zoo have joined forces to offer the ZOOm Go Electric program,…
By Ann Brown and Karen Stewart, Guest Bloggers DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. Winter in Utah brings to mind crystal clear blue skies, snow-capped mountains, and a long ski season.…
By Brittany Guerra, Guest Blogger DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. Winter months in Utah bring snow sports, holiday feasting, and seasonal inversions. As you’ve watched the mountain line slowly disappear…
By Donna Kemp Spangler It doesn’t take a scientist to know Utah has prolonged periods of bad air during the winter. But it does take a team of local and national scientific researchers to understand more fully why we have bad air. For years, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality’s air-quality scientists have been focused…
By Mat Carlile Last week’s inversion wasn’t the kind of “present” any of us wanted for the holidays. We know that fine particulates caused by the buildup of pollutants under the inversion’s “lid” create poor air quality and poses a health risk, particularly to the young, elderly, and those with respiratory and heart disease. We…
By Austin Pettey It’s awesome when an incredible opportunity opens up, and it seems like all your hard work is beginning to pay off. I was recently selected as a summer intern with the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ). I am a third year student at the University of Utah studying chemical engineering. While…
By Christine Osborne The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has consistently demonstrated its commitment to reducing air pollution by encouraging employee vanpools, issuing free Eco-Pass annual transit passes to all employees, and providing lockers and changing rooms for bike commuters. We brought hybrid cars, then electric vehicles, into our fleet. And now we’re ready…
By Bailey Toolson, Guest Blogger DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. As part of the annual Clear the Air Challenge, the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) and the Department of Environmental…