Vehicle Emissions in the Valley
Mobile source emissions are one of the leading sources of pollution in the Salt Lake Valley. The body of research on what this means for our health is growing stronger, and all leads to the same conclusion – there is no safe level of air pollution.
New research out of the University of British Columbia’s Air Pollution Exposure Lab exposed humans to diesel exhaust and then looked at MRIs of their brains to find “altered brain network connectivity acutely induced by air pollution,” KUER reported.
These findings can be cited in arguments against the recent attempts to turn Salt Lake City into a sea of warehouses, flooding our highways with diesel trucks and clogging the rails with dirty engine locomotives. We live in a geographic bowl, a perfect set up for pollution to accumulate. That alone should exclude us from this type of development even being considered.
Protesting massive polluting projects like the Inland Port and the proposed rezoning for the Northpoint neighborhoods is one of the most important things we can do to protect our air quality. Advocating for, and taking mass transit is extremely helpful, as is not idling your vehicle.