Tackling Climate Change: A Race We Can Win Together!   Mitigating climate change is both a sprint and a marathon. The challenge? We need to cut our emissions and local air pollution drastically in the near term while investing in projects that can have sustained impact over time. The good news? The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act has provided billions of dollars in federal funding to support climate action. If we make a compelling emissions reduction plan, we can apply for implementation funds to execute. $1M Grant: Fueling Our Climate Action Planning Process Last year, st ..read more

This week, Mayor Mendenhall and SLCgreen hosted an “AMA” or Ask Me Anything on Instagram and Twitter, taking your air quality questions.   Salt Lake City continues to lead communities in the state when it comes to air quality policies and programs – both with our internal operations, as well as community-facing efforts.    Still, we collectively have much work to do. Air pollution will not disappear overnight in a valley growing as ours is and faced with the challenges of our geography and climate.  The good news is that, according to the Utah Department of Air Q ..read more

by SLCgreen Staff Brijette Williams It’s that time of year again! The temperatures are starting to drop, leaves are showing hints of change, and that crisp scent of incoming autumn is the air. The changing seasons also mean it’s time to think about fall and winter air quality season.  September also marks Idle-free Awareness Month and the annual Governor’s Idle-free Declaration for the month and for Utah’s upcoming winter season. The initiative began in 2006 by Utah Clean Cities and was a statewide effort by 2010 – spurring statewide idle-free policies and action at school districts, cit ..read more

By SLCgreen Interns Frances Benfell, Emma Johnson, and staff Jude Westwood When my friend Tia made plans to spend the weekend in Salt Lake City, she didn’t know what she was in for. A few days before her visit, I texted her and asked, “How do you feel about waking up at 5:30 am to go heat mapping with me on Saturday?” She responded, “I don’t know what that is, but as long as you buy me coffee!”   As we drove to pick up our heat sensor on a Friday afternoon in mid-July, I explained the project to Tia. We were volunteering to drive one of ten routes across Salt Lake City with a sensor atta ..read more

By SLCgreen Intern Kellen Hunnicutt Most of us do a lot of driving in our lives. We drive to school, work, to run errands, and to meet up with friends. Not only is all this driving time bad for our air quality, but so much time in our cars can also be bad for us. Studies have shown that long commute times can produce stress and fatigue, and hurt mental health.   So why drive alone when you can carpool?  Carpooling saves money, reduces pollution, and can transform a routine commute into valuable social time. Consider carpooling to work with a coworker who lives nearby or co ..read more

By SLCgreen Intern Emma Johnson Walking is undoubtedly the most straightforward way to move around; humans have been doing it forever! Studies show that people are happiest and healthiest when they live in walkable communities. Walking is also beneficial to the environment and the economy. Despite these findings, in 2021 the average American commute reached an all-time high of 27.6 driving minutes each way. In the United States, only about 3-4% of commuters walk to work, which is sadly unsurprising based on the car-centric construction of many U.S. cities. During the month of July, Salt Lake ..read more

By SLCgreen Intern Iris Tang Brijette Williams, Sustainability Outreach Coordinator, lives in the suburbs but works and goes to school in Salt Lake City. She commutes by public transit as much as possible because it makes her travel time feel “valuable and productive.”   Instead of getting stuck in traffic on I-15, she can check emails, make lists for the day, or unwind without the stress of being behind the wheel. Choosing to swap your car trip for a transit trip can help improve air quality and mitigate summer ozone. It’s also a great way to participate in this month’s Clear the A ..read more

One of the many ways Salt Lake City works to improve air quality is by making it easier to own an electric vehicle, which doesn’t emit any tailpipe pollution. On that topic, we’re excited to report that theSalt Lake City Council enacted our proposed electric vehicle readiness standards on April 4! This will enable more residents to charge their vehicles at home if they live in a new multi-family building. The electric vehicle readiness standards were adopted as part of the Off-Street Parking ordinance (21A.44) and will require multi-family new-construct ..read more

by SLCgreen intern Emalee Carroll As Salt Lake City residents we are well acquainted with air pollution, but do we know what’s in it? With the Clear Air Challenge happening over the summer, we at SLCgreen wanted to take some time to provide a rundown on some of the different types of air pollution in Salt Lake City, what you can do about it, and what the city is currently working on and has done to make a difference! What is Ground Ozone?  As we enter the thick of summer and all the fun outdoor activities that come with it, let’s break down a major summertime pollutant – ground level ozon ..read more

PRESS RELEASE: October 5, 2022 A trailblazing partnership of local governments will soon pool resources to fund carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects in the Four Corners region. The 4 Corners Carbon Coalition (4CCC), established by Boulder County, Colorado and the City of Flagstaff, Arizona, today welcomed Salt Lake City, Utah and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Earlier this year, Boulder County and Flagstaff invested seed funding to launch this coalition with the goal of spurring regional CDR innovation to fight climate change. The coalition will provide catalytic funding to accelerate CDR project depl ..read more