Fighting Air Pollution With Chocolate

I remember a Sierra Club press conference in 1990. We were standing on the steps of the Utah State Capitol. I made a dramatic televised prediction that Salt Lake City would become the next Los Angeles in twenty years, if something wasn't done soon about the air pollution.

Once they got the Chevron refinery under some modicum of control in the early years of this decade, things improved. (In 1990, we once flew through the Chevron refinery plume in a small plane. Gag!) So, Salt Lake City didn't become the next Los Angeles.

More like a Beijing wannabe:

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of Utah doctors is declaring a health emergency over the Salt Lake City area's lingering air pollution problem.

Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment planned to deliver a petition Wednesday demanding immediate action by elected officials.

The group wants Gov. Gary Herbert and mayors of northern Utah cities to cut the pollution.

The doctors suggest lowering highway speed limits, making mass transit free for the winter and curbing industrial activities. They want a permanent ban on wood-burning. And they want large employers to let people work from home.

The doctors are advising people to avoid the outdoors. They say people can help their bodies fight toxic exposure by introducing anti-oxidants in their diet, like fish oil or chocolate.