A mineral company applies to lengthen two of its canals on the Great Salt Lake, worrying environmentalists. Utah Democrats sue to force Joel Ferry, head of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, off the November ballot. New leadership at the Utah Inland Port Authority hits pause on big ticket spending. And a columnist says it’s right and proper for a president…
The Great Salt Lake has again dropped to a new historic low. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Division of Natural Resources report that measurements gathered Sunday showed an average daily surface water elevation of 4,190.1 feet — a new low in the lake’s recorded history dating back to 1847. The lake is predicted to…
“Is this the toxic lake dust?” That’s a question many people in northern Utah are now asking themselves when the air turns brown with particulate pollution during windstorms. The human health and environmental risks posed to our region by the drying up of the Great Salt Lake are well documented, and are now garnering national…
A bill at this year’s legislative session aims to help clean up the air in northern Utah by making it easier for people to choose transit over their cars. The proposal by Salt Lake Democratic Rep. Joel Briscoe would do away with fares collected by the Utah Transit Authority, making busses, light rail and the…
A study published in 2020 by a cohort of scientists from Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and other institutions found that air pollution shortens life-expectancy in Utah on average by two years. The study, a compilation of data on the human health and economic impacts of pollution, reported that between 2,500 and 8,000…
A recent investigative report from the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica examines the ways Utah’s powerful water lobby has worked to undermine water conservation measures proposed by state lawmakers. Utah is the fastest-growing and second-driest state in the nation, but it lags behind its neighbors in instituting meaningful reforms to conserve water, even while it pursues expensive…
On this edition of “In the Hive,” we hear about the plan to cut Utah air pollution in half by 2030. The proposal, by Sen. Kirk Cullimore, would implement a series of incentives for cleaner vehicles and buildings and create a cap-and-trade program for industrial polluters in the state. Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke…
(Original air date Sept. 16, 2020) Today on “In the Hive,” the ongoing western wildfire season has challenged the literal meaning of the proverb “where there’s smoke there’s fire.” Because, as Utahns have come to understand very well this summer, smoke can travel a long way from its point of origin. Climate scientist Peter Gleick…
Humans are warming the planet, that warming is triggering extreme weather events and other detrimental outcomes, and “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions” in greenhouse gas emissions, things will get much worse. Those are among the findings of the latest United Nations report assessing the scientific knowledge on climate change. The document, titled…
Researchers in Utah are raising the alarm about the potential collapse of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem as low water levels threaten to destroy fragile colonies of microbes that underpin that system. Michael Van Denberg, senior geologist with the Utah Geological Survey says that underwater reef-like rock mounds called microbialites, are at risk of being…
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