The connection between PFAS and Data Centers
October 21st, 2025
A recent Guardian article explains, “data centers increase PFAS pollution directly and indirectly. The chemicals are needed in the centers’ operations – such as its cooling equipment – which almost…
Why aren’t we banning the PFAS chemicals that have proved to be so toxic to our health and environment?
October 21st, 2025
A similar story to the data centers has played out with PFAS chemicals. Commonly referred to as “forever chemicals”, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man made chemicals found in…
Communities are speaking about their experience with AI Data Centers. And the research is confirming their fears
October 21st, 2025
Rural Utah residents could be the next victim of the AI Data Center community invasion. Public officials should familiarize themselves with the stories of neighbors of these industrial developments before…
UPHE on RadioACTIVE – our event and an update on Parley’s Canyon
October 14th, 2025
UPHE’s Executive Director, Jonny Vasic, joined the RadioACTIVE show on KRCL last week. He promoted our free event on October 17th at Patagonia where our doctors will be addressing the…
Human emissions are impacting our drought conditions
October 14th, 2025
A new series of studies published in Nature and Nature Geoscience confirms what Utahns are already feeling: the Southwest’s megadrought isn’t just bad luck, it’s being driven and intensified by…
The Feds are boosting the coal industry
October 14th, 2025
The Trump Administration has been busy finding ways to sabotage any clean air, climate, or public health advancements responsible Americans have been working so hard towards. In line with their…
Great Salt Lake’s Canary in the Coal Mine – Wilson’s Phalaropes & GSL
October 7th, 2025
Last week, UPHE joined our friends in advocating for the protection of Wilson’s Phalarope, a small shorebird whose existence is inextricably linked to Great Salt Lake. Our local lake is…
What “Making America Healthy Again” means to UPHE
October 6th, 2025
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, has been leading a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement that has received a great deal of national attention. UPHE would…
The state needs to align their priorities and actions to save Great Salt Lake
September 30th, 2025
Just last week, Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah leaders stood with business executives and philanthropists to announce a $200 million initiative to save the Great Salt Lake. The governor called…
The Utah Division of Water Quality needs to hold US Magnesium accountable for groundwater contamination
September 28th, 2025
We encourage everyone to reach out to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality on this issue. Feel free to sample or borrow from our comments in your messages to them.…
Utah judge sides with the Inland Port Authority after “restructure”
September 22nd, 2025
In the fall of 2024, UPHE joined a lawsuit which challenged the legality of the Utah Inland Port Authority Board. Seemingly in response to our lawsuit, earlier this year the…
Utah’s biggest mine might get bigger
September 22nd, 2025
Kennecott is looking to expand and keep the massive Bingham Canyon Copper mine operating until 2040. The world’s largest open pit mine looms over the Wasath Front, and has been…
Great Salt Lake dust storms are worse than they thought
September 16th, 2025
Photo of Great Salt Lake dust storm courtesy of David Jackson Photography. If you’ve been following our work, we hope we’ve driven home two main points: there is no safe…
An easy action you can take to protect the air Utah’s children breathe
September 16th, 2025
Photo courtesy of E P Kosmicki. Utah families and health professionals have an opportunity to protect clean air for kids – an opinion piece in the Desert News outlines a…
Harley motorcycle dealerships must comply with federal Clean Air Act, pay $450,000 penalty
September 10th, 2025
Today Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE) and four Harley-Davidson dealerships filed a proposed consent decree in Utah federal district court that requires the dealerships to stop removing catalytic…
US Mag doesn’t understand why the spotlight is on them. We do.
September 2nd, 2025
Photo courtesy of NOAA Research. US Magnesium said in a recent Salt Lake Tribune article that they don’t understand the spotlight on their Great Salt Lake water use. This is…
The State is Letting Granite Construction Tear up Parleys Canyon to Construct a “Road to Nowhere”
August 28th, 2025
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE), Save Our Canyons (SOC), Save Parley’s, and local residents are alarmed that on Monday, Aug. 25, motorists in Parley’s Canyon and residents of…
More of Utah’s public lands are opening for oil and gas, thanks to the Trump admin.
August 26th, 2025
There is no shortage of issues with the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill” when it comes to climate and our health. Did you know it removes much of the ability…
Utah’s controversial action on Great Salt Lake
August 26th, 2025
While that state is applauding itself for a special session bill examining solutions to Great Salt Lake’s water crisis, many experts are seeing the bill as a band aid to…
Legislators to Vote on Bill to Permanently Dry Up 40% of the Great Salt Lake
August 25th, 2025
Joint Press Release with Utah Rivers Council. Bill demonstrates Americans cannot trust Utah to save the Great Salt Lake and dispels the myth that the state has any plan to…
Prioritizing Clean Energy but Investing Our Money in Coal?
August 19th, 2025
The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) has raised major concerns and protests, backed and researched by UPHE and our partners at the Stop the Polluting Port Coalition since its 2018…
Great Salt Lake’s Hazy Forecast
August 19th, 2025
Great Salt Lake dust storms aren’t something experts are warning could happen in the future, they are already here and impacting communities. Dust from the exposed lakebed contains arsenic, PFAS,…
RFK Jr. is increasing your risk of dying from cancer
August 19th, 2025
Dr. Brian Moench, UPHE co-founder, president and retired anesthesiologist, had an op-ed in Utah News Dispatch on how new policies from RFK Jr., head of Health and Human Services under…
Utah is “missing” on climate change’s super storms
August 11th, 2025
Katharine Biele’s “Hits and Misses” column in the Salt Lake City Weekly featured UPHE’s Climate Ambassador Dr. Mark Goldfarb. He wasn’t the miss, though! Her “miss” was super storms. “There’s…
Finally good news on RECA
August 11th, 2025
After years of advocacy by impacted communities, Congress has reinstated and actually expanded the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). This historic update means that many more people, including those who…
The Big Picture – The Climate Crisis (The Trump Admin., Fossil Fuels, Great Salt Lake)
August 5th, 2025
Numerous Trump administration changes in policy are impacting Utah and Utahns. From cuts in funding for cancer research, to weakening wildfire response, these actions pose growing risks to public safety…
To save the Great Salt Lake, we cannot grow water-hungry crops
July 28th, 2025
Malin Moench, a UPHE member and strong ally in many battles due to his strong legal background, had an excellent piece in the Deseret News. Moench cites two other regions…
UPHE stories and expertise on GSL and our health
July 28th, 2025
Helena Huizenga, a free lance writer, had a compelling and eye opening piece in Sierra, the Sierra Club’s Magazine. She reached out to UPHE after hearing Dr. Courtney Henley, UPHE…
Ozone in the Uinta Basin
July 16th, 2025
UPHE’s president and cofounder was recently on Utah Public Radio (UPR), chiming in on the Uinta Basin’s ozone problem. The Uinta Basin, in eastern Utah, hasn’t met federal air quality…
Tailings Ponds, Pollution and Great Salt Lake
July 15th, 2025
According to the EPA’s latest Toxics Release Inventory, Utah now ranks second in the nation for total toxic chemical emissions. The reason? Over 90% of these releases came from a…
UPHE speaks out on EPA’s planned power plant rule rollback
July 15th, 2025
The EPA is bailing out on a promise made to power plant communities and neighbors to clean the air. Under the Biden Administration, the EPA mandated that power plants keep…
Protecting Americans from cancer shouldn’t be political
July 15th, 2025
UPHE board president and cofounder’s latest op-ed, published in the Deseret News, outlines why Dr. Brian Moench fights so hard to protect our communities and families from air pollution. The…
Dust from central Utah, too
July 8th, 2025
Sevier Lake Bed by Paul Vanderwerf The remains of Sevier Lake in Millard County are already one of Utah’s largest sources of dust pollution, but things may get worse. The…
Trump administration fast-tracks eastern Utah fossil fuels project
July 8th, 2025
Despite last year’s record production year for oil out of the Uinta Basin, the Trump administration is fast-tracking an oil transloading facility in Carbon County. What does the project look…
What’s in Great Salt Lake dust that monitors aren’t catching?
July 8th, 2025
Photo courtesy of David Jackson Photography UPHE’s Dr. Brian Moench was quoted in a recent The Salt Lake Tribune article on the dust monitoring developments. The Utah legislature significantly reduced…
Wildfire smoke & what it’s doing to our bodies
June 30th, 2025
An alarming new investigation by The Atlantic highlights what scientists are only beginning to understand about wildfire smoke, and it’s confirming what other research has shown about how dangerous wood…
What’s happening with the public lands sell-off bill?
June 30th, 2025
Senator Lee’s bill would have sold off Forest Service land up City Creek, Emigration, Parley’s, Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon, as well as millions of acres across central and southern…
The Utah Inland Port’s newest project area
June 30th, 2025
New development is slated for rural communities just outside of fast growing Eagle Mountain. The Utah Inland Port Authority is spreading throughout the state like metastatic cancer. It has launched…
Utah Inland Port Authority Poised to Approve Project Area in Utah County’s Water Strapped Cedar Valley
June 26th, 2025
Will Harm Water, Air Quality and Wetlands Using taxpayer resources, the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) is poised to incentivize industrial development in Utah County’s Cedar Valley, an area facing serious…
The public lands threat and why UPHE is opposing
June 24th, 2025
Utah Senator Mike Lee is pretending to listen to public backlash—but make no mistake, his plan to auction off our public lands was stopped not because he cared, but because…
The Supreme Court sides with polluters again
June 24th, 2025
The Supreme Court made a ruling that allows states who are challenging clean air regulations to take their cases to various district courts rather than the DC circuit which had…
The need for tighter oversight and less big industry in our communities
June 17th, 2025
The Salt Lake Tribune published a very alarming investigative article on US Magnesium, a major industrial polluter located on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. The subject? Dangerous emissions…
Uranium pursued in Utah while RECA is still on pause
June 17th, 2025
Last week, Utah leaders announced plans to partner with a California-based company to bring uranium-related infrastructure to the Wasatch Front. The proposed facility in Bluffdale would manufacture equipment used to…
$2.4 billion in tax-exempt bonds for Uinta Basin Railway
June 13th, 2025
On June 12, 2025, UPHE submitted the following comments in regards to a proposal for $2.4 billion in tax-exempt bonds from the Utah Department of Transportation for the Uinta Basin…
Utah should not be pursuing AI data centers
June 10th, 2025
UPHE’s leader also had an opinion piece published in Utah News Dispatch. This one was on another, newer industry that Utah is considering, which could also be extremely harmful to…
Why our group of Utah physicians sued to stop the Uinta Basin Railway
June 10th, 2025
Our board president and cofounder, Dr. Brian Moench, had an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune on the U.S Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn the ruling in our favor…
The state is ignoring the diversion problem
June 3rd, 2025
Salt Lake City Weekly called out the State of Utah’s handling of the Great Salt Lake as a clear “miss” in its Hits and Misses column—and we couldn’t agree more.…
Why is the Utah Inland Port taking on remediation of a Salt Lake City landfill?
June 3rd, 2025
Last week, the Utah Inland Port Authority broke ground on a $200+ million cleanup of the decades-old North Temple landfill near Salt Lake City’s west side. While we support proper…
“I didn’t have asthma until I moved to Utah”
June 1st, 2025
UPHE Manager of Programs and Development, Brandi O’Brien, had an op-ed published in the Salt Lake Tribune, talking about how her own health is impacted by poor air quality. President…
Supreme Court Limits Scope of Nation’s Bedrock Environmental Law
June 1st, 2025
The Supreme Court today severely limited the scope of the nation’s landmark environmental law in a case that could give new life to a Utah oil train project. For nearly 50 years…
New ideas to deal with Great Salt Lake dust and monitoring
May 22nd, 2025
The Salt Lake Tribune covered Utah Speaker of the House, Mike Schultz’, latest idea to help mitigate the hazardous dust that’s blowing from exposed lake bed of Great Salt Lake.…
Climate Change and Our Health
May 21st, 2025
Climate change is real, and it’s a crisis. It is no longer a distant threat on the horizon that might occur. It is here and now. It affects all of…
Wetlands of Great Salt Lake and the problem with the mosquito solution
May 19th, 2025
As temperatures warm earlier each year due to climate change, mosquito season in Utah now stretches from April to October. The Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District (SLCMAD) is scrambling…
The economic impact of Great Salt Lake
May 19th, 2025
A new study finds that allowing Great Salt Lake to collapse will likely cause a literal economic collapse in Utah. This is all the more reason why UPHE’s lawsuit against…
Trump administration wants to weaken our air standards
May 19th, 2025
Utah’s Governor and legislative leaders have been trying to get the EPA to not hold northern Utah accountable to comply with national ozone standards for the last three years. They…
Major source of air pollutants in southern Utah under fire
May 13th, 2025
A recent lawsuit filed by the State of Utah against Green Natural Gas Ventures LLC (GNG Ventures) underscores the urgent necessity for stringent pollution control measures and vigilant oversight. The…
Dust storms are getting worse—Let’s not add fuel to the fire
May 13th, 2025
Utahns experienced another alarming dust storm this past Sunday, with severe winds sending massive clouds of dust into the air across the state. A Fox13 article confirmed that much of…
Tribune Editorial on Great Salt Lake
May 13th, 2025
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…
Still time to act on Curtis’ resolution to weaken air quality
May 13th, 2025
UPHE’s Dr. Brian Moench had an Op-Ed in Utah News Dispatch giving more detail on why Senator Curtis’s S.J. Resolution 31 is a really bad idea. In short, this resolution…
Joint Comments on the “Fix our Forests” Act
May 6th, 2025
More on forest fire management science here.
Strides in reducing fossil fuels in Utah are at risk
May 6th, 2025
Progress towards clean energy in Utah has been slow and painful for those who see the benefits of a clean future. Closure dates for two of Utah’s dirtiest coal power…
Utah’s chance to save Great Salt Lake
May 6th, 2025
The New York Times points out that Utah has a rare opportunity to be the first place in the world to reverse a saline lake’s decline. We don’t have to…
Lawsuit to stop rampant industrialization from UIPA proceeds
April 29th, 2025
UPHE, our partners and our lawyers are working to update our case against the Utah Inland Port Authority. The lawsuit we filed against the Port in the fall of 2024…
The commute continues for state workers – even on smog days
April 15th, 2025
Utah lawmakers have quietly repealed the state’s “surge remote work” policy, which previously encouraged state employees to work from home on poor air quality days. The rollback, buried in the…
Dust, forever chemicals and reducing your risk
April 15th, 2025
Dust might seem like a minor household nuisance, but in reality, it’s a major—and growing—health concern, especially here in Utah. As Great Salt Lake continues to shrink, more of its…
Trump threatens Clean air at National Parks
April 15th, 2025
A 26-year-old federal rule responsible for clearing up skies in national parks may be on the chopping block under a major deregulatory push by the Trump administration. The regional haze…
Voltaire’s take on the ‘Utah Way’
April 5th, 2025
UPHE’s co founder and president, Dr. Brian Moench, had a commentary piece published in Utah News Dispatch where he analyzes the ‘Utah Way’ through Voltaire, the French Enlightenment writer and…
Utah’s air purifiers in schools program is in jeopardy
March 31st, 2025
A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic brought funds for much needed school improvements. Improvements that UPHE has been advocating for even before the pandemic to protect children’s health in…
Judge Rejects Effort by Utah Officials to Derail Great Salt Lake Lawsuit Utah sought to dismiss lawsuit over its failure to protect the Great Salt Lake
March 31st, 2025
Salt Lake City, UT – A state district court judge today paved the way for a landmark public trust suit over Utah’s failure to protect the Great Salt Lake to…
Opinion: End Wasatch Front Gravel Mining
March 25th, 2025
A recent opinion piece in the Daily Utah Chronicle perfectly outlined the case for ending gravel mining along the Wasatch Front, our state’s most populated and highly polluted region. Elizabeth…
Great Salt Lake legislative recap
March 25th, 2025
Despite House Speaker Mike Schultz’s comments about putting a “pause” on Great Salt Lake legislation this session, a handful of bills relating to the lake were introduced. “Most bills that…
Standing up for science
March 12th, 2025
UPHE’s president and co-founder, Dr. Brian Moench, went on KRCL’s RadioACTIVE to talk about recent legislative and policy moves both in Utah, nationwide, and internationally. Dr. Moench is on around…
International air quality data will be hidden by the U.S.
March 11th, 2025
The U.S. government has announced it will stop sharing air quality data from its embassies and consulates worldwide due to funding cuts, a move that has alarmed scientists and environmental…
The problem with the “Authorities” the legislature likes to create
March 11th, 2025
Photo courtesy of E P Kosmicki. UPHE member Malin Moench is a retired legal analyst who has decades of experience in econometric modeling work. He’s written a handful of wonderful…
How Utah’s new bill changes the Inland Port
March 11th, 2025
The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) is set to reapprove 11 inland port project areas—spanning 76,138 acres across 13 counties. The reapproval seems an attempt to skirt the consequences for…
Trump Administration EPA moves could dismantle safeguards against chemical disasters
March 11th, 2025
Earthjustice recently issued a press release on the EPA’s move to weaken protections against chemical disasters following pressure from corporate lobbyists. “The primary purpose of the EPA is to protect…
Uinta Basin Railway lawsuit proceeds
March 4th, 2025
Ok Energy Today covered our case to stop the Uinta Basin Railway, which has been taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. “Plans to construct a new oil railroad in the Uinta Basin…
Savage may proceed with rail line for Inland Port project
March 4th, 2025
UPHE, alongside the Erda Community Association and local residents, petitioned the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to reconsider its approval of the Savage Tooele Railroad, an 11-mile rail line connecting the…
Letter: Even a few small actions can make a difference in Utah. Here’s a primer on how to ensure your voice is heard.
March 4th, 2025
We know we’ve asked a lot from you this session—emails, calls, public comments—but there’s a lot on the line. Your voices are being heard, and now is not the time…
Letter To Congress Demanding Action On Firings
March 4th, 2025
UPHE joined nearly 500 organizations in signing a letter going to Congress asking them to take action on the Trump Administration’s mass firing spree. We are deeply concerned about the…
As the Great Salt Lake recedes, industry rises
March 3rd, 2025
UPHE has long fought against the inland port and its rapid industrial expansion, which threatens air quality, public health, and the fragile Great Salt Lake ecosystem. A recent High Country…
UPHE’s legislative concerns & things you can do!
February 27th, 2025
Your Voice is Needed—Tell Lawmakers to Protect Public Health & Transparency!We are facing a critical moment in Utah’s legislative session. Several dangerous bills threaten our right to government transparency, clean…
Utah House passes HB355: Gift to gravel pit operators, threat to public health and quality of life
February 26th, 2025
Groups call on Senate to vote NO Reflecting the magnitude of public concern about gravel pits, according to the DAQ Director Bryce Bird, complaints about gravel pit pollution is the number…
Comments on H.B. 355 to the House Natural Resources Committee
February 17th, 2025
Take Action on H.B. 355 here! Our board president and cofounder, Dr. Brian Moench, spoke on behalf of the 450 physicians who are members of Utah Physicians for a Healthy…
Residents speak out over mining plans for Southern Utah
February 14th, 2025
Fox 13 recently amplified a major concern for a small community in southern Utah—an industrial mining operation that could disrupt their environment and threaten their health. As with many industrial…
$1.3 billion in taxpayer money going to the Utah Inland Port
February 14th, 2025
Thanks to everyone who joined last week’s press conference ahead of a hearing on a bill that would decrease transparency of the Utah Inland Port Authority. You read that right,…
Why plastics and other pollution need to be contained and regulated
February 10th, 2025
We have known for years that numerous plastic products shed microscopic particles and fragments, which end up contaminating our bodies, including our most critical organs, with plastic nanoparticles. These products…
UPHE strives to keep you informed with easy ways to take action. Mining bills to speak out on.
February 10th, 2025
“Granite Construction, a California firm, is eager to strip mine the north slope of Grandeur Peak in lower Parley’s Canyon. The scar would be a mile wide and rise a…
The Inland Port Is Legislating Its Own Power—Again. Speak Out TODAY!
February 10th, 2025
We need your help speaking out against a dangerous bill that favors industry at the expense of public health and the environment. A Senate Committee is hearing the bill Wednesday,…
A gift to mining companies, and you’re paying
February 4th, 2025
Hasn’t the Utah legislature been arguing with the federal government over local control for decades? You wouldn’t know it by a new bill which would strip Utah counties and cities…
TRAX expansion in the works
February 4th, 2025
A sunny spot in the daunting news of the Utah legislative session, is that TRAX is getting a much needed expansion! While TRAX has served as a great way to…
Letter to the Editor: The Utah Legislature is destroying our freedoms and silencing our voices
February 4th, 2025
Photo courtesy of E P Kosmicki. The Salt Lake Tribune published a powerful letter written by Ann Florence. Her letter explains how the Utah Legislature is quietly dismantling the checks…
Air quality monitoring in Utah
January 28th, 2025
UPHE applauds Davis County’s air quality sensor initiative. The program is a proactive step to address air pollution and includes installing 24 air quality sensors throughout the county, with plans…
Some of the healthiest people in the state are feeling impacts of poor air quality
January 28th, 2025
Photo courtesy of E P Kosmicki A recent Salt Lake Tribune article highlights the impact of the state’s poor air quality problem on even some of the healthiest residents –…
Thank you for joining us at the GSL rally
January 28th, 2025
We were overwhelmed by the passionate show of support for the lake at last Saturday’s rally at the Capitol. UPHE had a table at the rally to spread information on…
Environmental groups ask the legislature to pay attention to their own report.
January 23rd, 2025
The DOGM commissioned report ordered by the Legislature shows there is no shortage of aggregate and no urgent need for more gravel pits Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE),…
Utah’s troubled relationship with fossil fuel investors
January 21st, 2025
We urge you NOT to listen to Warren Buffet’s encouragement to “inhale the air, drink the water” near his company, Berkshire Hathaway’s coal-fired power plants. Berkshire Hathaway owns the Hunter…
Fossil fuel subsidies through the Inland Port?
January 21st, 2025
Photo of Cottonwood Campground, a few miles from the mine site by Jeremy T. Dyer, BLM Utah The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) has once again shown its lack of…
A win for public lands is a win for public health in Utah
January 14th, 2025
Last weekend, UPHE stood alongside passionate advocates at the Public Lands Rally at the Utah State Capitol to champion the protection of public lands. Public lands are vital in the…
The Inland Ports’ true intentions shine through
January 14th, 2025
The Utah Inland Port Authority’s latest moves highlight why this state-run, tax-subsidized project remains a significant threat to Utah’s environment, public health, and taxpayer dollars. A new crude-by-rail terminal near…