The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released their “greenest vehicles of 2008″ list with the Civic GX natural gas car taking the title of the greenest vehicle for the fifth consecutive year.

“This is the eighth year in a row that a Honda vehicle received the number one ranking and the seventh consecutive year that Honda vehicles held at least four positions in the top 12, an impressive one-third of all vehicles on the list… and is 90% cleaner than the average
gasoline-powered car on the road today.”

Read more at:

• Green Cars
• NGV Global

For Thursday afternoon and for Friday, a Red Air Quality Alert is called.

Today’s local levels are currently the highest levels of PM2.5 in the U.S. Conditions in our big four cities at 3:00pm Thursday: Logan (104), Ogden (79), Provo (79), and Salt Lake City (93).

CACHE County: Air Quality condition as issued by the Bear River Health Dept.: RED
Health Advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

SALT LAKE & DAVIS counties: Air Quality condition: RED
Health advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

UTAH County: Air Quality condition: RED
Health advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

WEBER County: Air Quality condition: RED
Health advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

In addition to lessening your emissions so you contribute as little as possible to air pollution, keep in mind the health advisory that comes with the Red Air Quality Alerts. Reduce prolonged exposure and exertion for those who are most sensitive to air pollution.

Though rain and snow have cleared out much of the pollution for Utah, Salt Lake and Davis Counties, Weber and Cache Counties still have alerts for today, Saturday, February 23rd.

CACHE County: Air Quality condition as issued by the Bear River Health Dept.: RED
Health Advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

SALT LAKE & DAVIS counties: Air Quality condition: GREEN
Health advisory: None

UTAH County: Air Quality condition: GREEN
Health advisory: None

WEBER County: Air Quality condition: YELLOW
Health advisory: None

Remember, “You are asked to drive as little as possible during red and yellow days because cars contribute significantly to the area’s air pollution.” For more suggestions to reduce your contribution to Utah’s air pollution, please visit the Utah Department of Air Quality at Choose Clean Air.

The Salt Lake Tribune has run stories about our dirty air for the past couple of days.

The red-air conditions are expected to hang on through at least the middle of the week, and that could mean more periods of locally heavy nighttime fog. But the weather service says the inversion should begin to break up toward the end of the week, when the first in a series of storms rolls into Utah from the Pacific.

One issue that keeps coming up is the use of the words “haze” and “hazy.” “It’s hazy out there, and it’s going to get hazier,” read the Salt Lake Tribune article. Why the euphemisms? This so-called haze is air pollution. Let’s call it air pollution. Maybe if we stop softening our references, people will get the seriousness of the situation to our health.

Every day this week on the Wasatch Front, you and your children are breathing air pollution.

Keep breathing, but do limit your outdoor exposure to the air pollution. Please also lessen your contributions to the air pollution by NOT burning wood & solid fuel and driving less. I’ve chosen to put off today’s errands until another day.

A report has found a link between breathing polluted air and lower IQs in children.  The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that kids who live in neighborhoods with heavy traffic pollution have lower IQs and score worse on other tests of intelligence and memory than children who breathe cleaner air. The study’s lead author reports that “The effect of pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead.” The study focused specifically on black carbon, a marker for traffic pollution.

News report available here.

Abstract of the study available here.

To confirm what your burning eyes and coughing may have told you already, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality has called Monday, February 17, a Red Air Quality Action day. These conditions are anticipated to go on for several more days. Please note the health advisories for sensitive people.

CACHE County: Air Quality condition as issued by the Bear River Health Dept.: RED
Health Advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

SALT LAKE & DAVIS counties: Air Quality condition: RED
Health advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

UTAH County: Air Quality condition: RED
Health advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

WEBER County: Air Quality condition: RED
Health advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children) should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

This means NO burning wood or solid fuel. You can report violations.

You are also asked to drive as little as possible to lessen your contribution to the air pollution already settled into the valleys.

For twice-daily updates, call the Air Pollution Hotline.

1. Residents in Salt Lake and Davis counties may call (801) 975-4009.
2. Residents in Utah and Weber counties may call (800) 228-5434.
3. Residents in Cache County may call (435) 792-6612.

‘First renewable energy bill unveiled’; By Stephen Speckman, Deseret Morning, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008.

‘Measure aims to ease vehicle pollution’; It would make riding mass transit free on red-burn days; By Nicole Warburton, Deseret Morning News, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008.

‘No-idling zone’: Schools urge drivers to cut pollution by turning off buses,cars; By Jennifer Toomer-Cook, Deseret Morning News, Published: Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008.

‘Idling car toxins taxing on children, Utah moms find’; By Ben Fulton, The Salt Lake Tribune, 02/06/2008. Points that are incorrect in the above article are:

1. The students at Emerson (with their teachers) did
the baseline survey, not Utah Moms for Clean Air.

2. The 9 minutes idling average equaling about 215
pound of pollution was just for pick-up in the
afternoon. It did not include the morning drop-off.

3. The three tips about idling are general tips, not
specific findings by “the moms” (nor the students).

Rowland Hall St Mark’s and Utah Moms for Clean Air present:

“Air Quality Where Children Live and Breathe: A Focus on Schools,” a free informational lecture for parents, teachers, students, or anyone else interested in learning more about the dangers of poor air quality around schools and what you can do about it.

Topics will include basic information about the types and sources of air pollution and the health impacts for our children as well as practical solutions for schools, including idle reduction campaigns, diesel school bus improvements, and air quality education for kids.

• The lecture is free to the public.
  February 11, Monday, 7 p.m.
  McCarthey campus of Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School
  720 Guardsman Way

For more information about Utah Moms for Clean Air, visit www.utahmomsforcleanair.org.