Study Buddies
If you had $10 million, how would you waste it? How about on a government study? That's where "they" say all good ideas go to die. Enter Utah Sen. Mitt Romney with his really bang-up idea of what to do about the shrinking Great Salt Lake. First, let's just acknowledge that this shrinking is a bad thing. The surface of the lake recently fell to the lowest level since records began in 1847, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. And things are just going to get worse. It's not just bad for the birds, it's potentially life-threatening for people. There are organizations with real plans. Ducks Unlimited is working to offset water usage by improving efficiency, the Deseret News reported. "That project piped open ditches, delivering more water to wetlands and to the Great Salt Lake." And there's so much more. But then there's Romney, who along with Reps. Chris Stewart and Burgess Owens want to spend $10 million for a study. They might want to read up on climate change first.
Fossils Fueled
Oh, and speaking of climate change, what about the elephant in the room—burning fossil fuels? Utah is madly trying to preserve them, to breathe life back into the Darth Vader of the industrial world. In the latest intervention, a Utah judge thinks it's a good idea to spend state money for the Uinta Basin Railway to haul oil back and forth. "Increasing transportation options to the Uinta Basin, particularly by rail, will result in numerous benefits to the communities, public governments and private sector actors within the Basin," The Salt Lake Tribune quoted the judge saying. You know, of course, those benefits are economic in the short term—not environmental or health-related. Say goodbye to acres of wildlife habitat and say hello to more carbon pollution and possible oil spills along waterways. What could possibly go wrong? And just because oil is better than water, the Trib reports that developers passed off a shady deal to give water rights to a stalled oil shale project.
Good, Better, Best
There's a saying: Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. But the conservative political trope has long been that electric vehicles are bad, and consumers—especially liberals—are stupid for buying them. Why? Because of where the electricity for their batteries comes from. While it's true that coal in Utah does fire up electricity, that's not the whole story. "Bits and pieces of their power come from solar, wind, hydro and nuclear. Gas-powered cars, however, rely entirely on gas. A double whammy of turning crude oil into petroleum and then puffing emissions out the tailpipe," writes Motor Biscuit. So, rejoice in the news that Salt Lake City has the second highest growth in hybrids/EVs since 2014 and Utah the third highest in the nation, according to the Deseret News. Let's not make this political. Let's make it breathable.
