HB 70 sponsored by Rep. Patrice Arent sailed through the House Com this afternoon, so we can chalk up one small victory (woo-hoo!!) for cleaner air, although much work still remains.

Thank you to all of you who supported HB 70 from the Chamber of Commerce, the PTA, Overstock.com, the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, all the doctors at the Pulmonary and Critical Care Units of the University of Utah, especially Dr. Richard Kanner, Wasatch Clean Air Coalition, Breathe Utah, Bike Utah, Cactus and Tropical and Vitalize Studio among many others.

Utah Moms for Clean Air also wants to extend a big THANK YOU to Rep Patrice Arent for her wise leadership and to the other Representatives who co-sponsored this bill: Jack Draxler (R), Roger Barrus, (R) Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D), Christine Watkins (D), Ryan Wilcox (D), Rebecca Edwards (D), Brian King (D), Neal Hendrickson (D), Gregory Hughes (D), Melvin Brown (D), Stephen Handy (D), Stewart Barlow (D), and Brian Doughty (D).

If you know of other associations, businesses, or community leaders who would be interested in endorsing the bill please pass the information along, as we still have time to collect additional signatures before HB 70 moves to the Senate.

Also, if your Representative is not listed as co-sponsoring the bill please contact him or her and urge them to do the right thing for Utah.

KSL provided some solid coverage of the hearing and the bill: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=19006666&title=legislative-committee-sends-air-quality-task-force-bill-through-to-house.

Rep Patrice Arent [D-SLC] & Rep Jack Draxler [R-NLogan] are co-sponsoring HB 70 (the formation of a Legislative Air Quality Task Force). The Air Quality Task Force would meet frequently after this Session to take testimony from experts and propose legislation to improve Utah’s AQ. Only our Legislature can pass laws and provide funding so you need to let your elected representatives know how important this is!! If you are in Rep Arent (parent@le.utah.gov) or Rep Draxler’s (draxler@le.utah.gov) districts please send them a thank you for taking on this important initiative.

HB 70 represents hope on our too often polluted horizon.

The Task Force process will educate legislators, and help them develop bills for the next Session. Bills that have gone thru this process are much more likely to pass.

This important bill needs diverse geographic & interest group support because there is intense competition for Task Force funding. Please ask any community or governmental organization you participate in to endorse HB 70 asap!

Endorsements can be emailed: parent@le.utah.gov

Also, please ask your House member to sign on as a cosponsor if they have not already. If they have signed on, please take a moment to thank them as well.

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE HB 70 A REALITY!!

By Suzanne Carlile with contributions from Jordan Ormond.

The world of health and medicine can be confusing to many parents. But Nurse Suzy is here to help clarify some of the issues that are important to you and your family.

Question:

Why do people with respiratory problems have a hard time breathing during the winter months?

Answer:

People with respiratory problems often have a hard time breathing, and when the air is full of particulate matter it becomes almost impossible for them to get a good breath.

In the winter, or on very hot summer days, it seems more difficult to breathe because the air holds onto pollution particles and the air pressure makes it so they have nowhere to go. Because of the damage to their respiratory system, people with respiratory issues have very little ability to filter out the bad particles.

Let me just give some brief information about respiratory problems.

Symptoms of a respiratory problem include:

dyspnea (difficulty breathing)
tachypnea (rapid breathing)
hypopnea (shallow breathing)
hyperpnea (deep breathing)
apnea (absence of breathing)

Breathing problems may occur with conditions affecting the lungs alone or may be seen in association with more generalized conditions, according to an article on BetterMedicine.com. Examples of such conditions include dehydration, infections or side effects from medications.

“Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis) and asthma are common causes of respiratory symptoms,” BetterMedicine.com states. “Other common causes include infections, such as pneumonia or acute bronchitis.”

Depending on the cause, respiratory symptoms may begin in one or both lungs and may be accompanied by rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, shortness of breath, headache and dizziness.

When you have respiratory problems of any kind, particles in the air make it harder to breath. Cold air can literally freeze airway passages; and if you already have scarred airways, it just makes it worse.

Smoking, of course, is the worst way to damage your lungs, but breathing constant second-hand smoke, paint fumes, or dirt from construction or mining can also cause scarring. Congenital diseases and asthma can take their toll as well.

If you have many years of injury to your lungs and become ill, it will be harder to recover. While medical treatment can help, there is no “cure” to repair your injured lungs. Because of this, it becomes a real challenge to get patients with injured lungs through any illness — which can be very frustrating to both the patients and the doctors.

During the winter months, all hospitals see an increase in patients with respiratory problems due to the cold weather, poor air quality, viruses and bacteria — which are all common in our area.

But some of those visits can be avoided. If you know you have respiratory problems, stay indoors on inversion days. Also, take your respiratory medications as prescribed. If you cannot afford the medications, consult with your doctor to find a cheaper alternative. There are many medications that can be interchanged with no complications.

*****

Ask Nurse Suzy

Do you have a question for Nurse Suzy, or maybe a topic you’d like her opinion on? Email her at nursesuzyksl@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEER MEETING

With the recent surge of interest in Utah Moms for Clean Air (winter pollution and the Kennecott lawsuit!), we are hosting our next volunteer meeting sometime in mid-January. To best accommodate as many people as possible, we are taking a survey of which dates work best:

Monday, January 16th (no school day): 1pm
Tuesday, January 17th: 9:00am
Tuesday January 17th: 1pm
Wednesday January 18th: 4:00pm
Wednesday January 18th: 8pm

Please let us know all the dates/times that work for you and whether or not you will be bringing kids. Kids are always welcome to the meetings, which is TBA but near the U of U.

During this meeting we will discuss specific ways to get involved — or even ways to start your own clean air initiative. We will also be seeking volunteers for our 4th “kids at the capital” event in February and for someone to organize our year-round tabling efforts.

You can respond by emailing us directly at: supermoms at utahmomsforcleanair dot org

Thank you!!

London-based Rio Tinto, who owns Kennecott Cooper, made record profits last year — over $15 billion! Unfortunately for Utahns some of this golden profit is because Rio Tinto CEO, Tom Albanese, made a choice between cleaning-up his company’s messes or making more money – and like a Scrooge, he chose to make more money.

The fact is, Rio Tinto/Kennecott is thrusting millions of dollars in costs — in the form of air pollution — unto the people of Utah and expecting us to pay their tab. We pay with our health and diminished quality of life. Some Utahns tragically even pay with that which is most precious — their own lives.

Every year between 1000 and 2000 Utahns die prematurely due to our chronic air pollution problem. There is no way around the fact that this is cheating, as well as deeply unethical and immoral.

Making money is obviously a fully acceptable endeavor, but NOT at the expense of innocent others, such as the children of Utah.

All we are asking of Rio Tinto, who is currently responsible for about 30% of the particulate air pollution in our valley, is that they adhere to the Federally mandated Clean Air Act and pay the true costs of doing their business. Is this too much to ask? We think not.

For coverage of yesterday’s press conference where Utah Moms for Clean Air and the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment announce the filing of a law suit, please see:

KCPW Radio

KSL Television

Salt Lake Tribune

Deseret News

Dr. Packham, my daughter adores your grandson, so I hate making this personal, but your recent dismissive comments about air pollution — especially when made from a trusted position of authority — really STINK!

Your “don’t worry, be happy” comments about air pollution completely contradict the well-established positions of the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Thoracic Society that air pollution is deadly.

Please, Dr. Packham, stop being an industry apologist and stand up instead for the children of Utah. But, if you don’t I will not hold it against your grandson.

If you agree that Dr Packham, as an employee of the Utah Department of Public Health, is too dismissive of air pollution, please send him and his boss an email. They need to hear from you.

Get ready to hold your breath, winter’s first serious inversion along the Wasatch Front is well on its way. Cache Valley is also suffering from poor air quality — so much so that a local doctor was quoted as saying: “Don’t Breathe.” Obviously, easier said than done. The dirty air is here and we are all forced to breathe it.

Today the PM2.5 moved into the 20’s zone and as each day passes it will only get worse and worse and worse until Mother Nature is kind enough to send a cleansing storm our way. Thus far, no smog-busting storms are on the radar…so expect throat-tightening yellow air until at least next Wednesday.

Utah Moms for Clean Air congratulates Mayor Becker and the SLC City Council for passing among the country’s first idle-free ordinances. Even though some motorists are grumpy they may get fined for pumping exhaust into our airshed, this law is really a WIN-WIN for everyone: drivers will save money on gas (one hour of idling equals one gallon of gas, which at today’s prices is about $4) and our airshed will be spared at least some of the air pollution that otherwise would have been there, making it easier for everyone to breathe! See the Deseret News article below for the full story.

Salt Lake City Council makes vehicle idling longer than 2 minutes illegal
By Jared Page

The Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an ordinance making idling of vehicle engines a crime punishable by a fine of between $50 and $210, depending on the number of offenses and how quickly fines are paid.

The goal, city leaders said, is to improve air quality in the Salt Lake Valley, where more than 50 percent of air pollution comes from vehicle exhaust.

“Anything we can do to reduce pollution on an individual basis contributes to what we need to do on a valley-wide basis,” Councilman Stan Penfold said.

The ordinance includes plans for a public awareness campaign and a six-month grace period to make sure Salt Lake City residents and visitors are aware of the new law and its purpose before any fines are issued.

First-time offenders of the ordinance will be let off with a warning.

“Our primary goal is to educate as opposed to enforce,” Councilman Carlton Christensen said.

That goal led the City Council to modify the ordinance Tuesday and make businesses with drive-through windows exempt from the fines, as long as city-approved signs are posted at those locations to make customers aware of the law.

Signs will be made by the city and available to businesses with drive-through windows for a yet-to-be-determined fee, likely about $20.

“We’re creatures of habit,” Councilman Van Turner said, noting that people generally bank in one place and have favorite fast-food restaurants. “I’m in favor of the signs because it’s going to remind you (about the law) every single day.”

The Utah Restaurant Association and Utah Bankers Association had expressed concern that the anti-idling ordinance would hinder businesses that rely on drive-through service.

City leaders are hoping signs at drive-throughs act as much or more of a deterrent than the threat of a fine.

Drive-through businesses join a long list of exemptions to the ordinance, including temperature. The law allows for motorists to idle vehicles so they can operate heaters and defrosters when the temperature is below 32 degrees or air conditioning when it’s warmer than 90 degrees.

Concessions also will be made for emergency vehicles and on-duty police officers, among others.

Enforcement of the ordinance falls to the parking division, not police, and city leaders don’t expect to be writing many tickets.

Bianca Shreeve, assistant to the mayor’s chief of staff, said enforcement mainly will be complaint based.

“The focus is education,” Shreeve said.

The two-minute citywide limit puts Salt Lake City’s idling restrictions among the lowest in the nation, joining Park City, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, city officials said.

In Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey, idling is limited to three minutes statewide. New York City, St. Louis County, Mo., and Washington, D.C., also have three-minute idling restrictions.

The citywide idling restrictions stem from a 2008 executive order by Mayor Ralph Becker that prohibits idling of city vehicles for more than 10 seconds. A year earlier, then-Mayor Rocky Anderson put in place a five-minute idling limit for city vehicles.