Doctors in the news, calling for action on Great Salt Lake

The over 300 medical professionals who signed onto our call for legislators to take meaningful action to save the lake made headlines this week.

Axios reported that we delivered the letter to lawmakers right ahead of the legislative session. Lawmakers have been urged by experts for the last few sessions to take immediate action. Their moves so far have not come close to reviving the lake, however.

UPHE co-founder and board president, Dr. Brian Moench, recently wrote an op-ed about the flawed legislative “efforts” to protect the lake:

Behind the scenes, key legislators are still squirreling away taxpayer money to fund the Bear River Development Project, which, by itself, would be a catastrophic blow to the lake because the Bear River is its largest tributary. They are crafting a bill to purchase 5,000 acres in Whites Valley northwest of Tremonton, to build a reservoir to steal 220,000 acre-ft more water from the Bear River annually — more than three times the amount of water savings achieved by recent water conservation programs in the GSL watershed.

UTAH IS SABOTAGING EFFORTS TO SAVE GREAT SALT LAKE

“As we take an oath to do no harm, so should our lawmakers,” our letter cautions. “We urge the State of Utah to implement whatever policies are necessary to avert this looming disaster.”

“Potential impacts from breathing dust pollution include inflammation, lung diseases, heart conditions, pregnancy complications and more,” a Salt Lake Tribune article on the letter states.

Doctors can sign the letter here