Tribune Editorial on Great Salt Lake
The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board wrote an excellent piece outlining the threat Utahns face from the shrinking of Great Salt Lake, and what the state can still do to protect residents and the lake. The piece addresses the burden and blame that has been put on Utah’s farmers, when it should really fall on the state. It’s up to the state to incentivize farmers and support their livelihoods while addressing the “environmental nuclear bomb” Utahns are facing.
“Expecting a small number of us to sacrifice their economic lives for the greater good is neither fair nor realistic.
“That is when the culture, through its government, has to step in and put its thumb on the scales. To change the incentives so that using less water by growing less cattle-feeding alfalfa makes more economic sense to individual farmers than a system that gives them no rational alternative to the status quo.
“The Great Salt Lake is continuing to shrink. The threat to the economy, to the ecosystem, to the lungs of all of us who breathe the air in Utah and beyond, is clear and monumental.”
UPHE is actively working to hold the state accountable. We’ve called out that their efforts that have fallen short. Don’t be deceived by the money they’ve spent. They’ve also invested in development along Great Salt Lake wetlands, and protecting industries like real estate development that threaten the lake.
“Pay alfalfa growers in amounts larger enough to get their attention. Sketch out, in great specificity, where the water they give up will go. Show them that what they are giving up benefits them and the state,” The Salt Lake Editorial suggests.
Speak out on the lake, or contribute to our legal fund to force action on the lake!
