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A BIG part of SLC's air quality problem is that we have so much industrial pollution in the area. Kennicott operates one of the largest strip mines in the world

A BIG part of SLC's air quality problem is that we have so much industrial pollution in the area. Kennicott operates one of the largest strip mines in the world in the valley, and their operation alone accounts for ~1/3 of the air pollution. There are also a lot of oil refineries in the north SL area that spew pollution constantly. I agree that public transportation and re-thinking commuting is a good step, but it would be great to see some movement on the very controllable industrial pollution problems we have in a state with some of the most lax environmental laws in the nation.

VaedaStrike 14y ago
Ben here made my point right after I pointed it out. He brings up Kennicott's Bingham Copper mine but seems ignorant that pound for pound of copper it's the cleanest copper produced on the planet. He also seems to not address the reality that our geography would trap a lot of pollution regardless of where it was originally produced, simply by virtue of the valley's geography. I'm not against cleaning things up as much as possible. But do you really think shutting down the cleanest copper operation on the planet is a net gain for the environmental movement? Are we really okay with bad air as long as we don't directly produce it? How many of us have smart phones and computers (we are discussing this on HN are we not?)? How guilty do we feel about the pollution produced in 3rd world countries where much of the Rare Earth Elements used in them are mined? Please people, reconsider the degree of outrage simply because you can see the dirty air. Illusory and placebo environmentalism is not the means to a better world. We need to see things in a planetary perspective if we want to really address planetary problems, and being enraged about SLC's air quality in the middle of an inversion is like getting worked up about polluted water after watching Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Sure the water is atrocious and it's a crying shame, but the water is likely no less polluted in any other metropolitan area hit by a hurricane, it's just the Geography is less advantageous to New Orleans.
austenallred 14y ago
At least we don't have Geneva Steel anymore. Man that was a nightmare.

VaedaStrike 14y ago

Ben here made my point right after I pointed it out. He brings up Kennicott's Bingham Copper mine but seems ignorant that pound for pound of copper it's the cleanest copper produced on the planet. He also seems to not address the reality that our geography would trap a lot of pollution regardless of where it was originally produced, simply by virtue of the valley's geography. I'm not against cleaning things up as much as possible. But do you really think shutting down the cleanest copper operation on the planet is a net gain for the environmental movement? Are we really okay with bad air as long as we don't directly produce it? How many of us have smart phones and computers (we are discussing this on HN are we not?)? How guilty do we feel about the pollution produced in 3rd world countries where much of the Rare Earth Elements used in them are mined? Please people, reconsider the degree of outrage simply because you can see the dirty air. Illusory and placebo environmentalism is not the means to a better world. We need to see things in a planetary perspective if we want to really address planetary problems, and being enraged about SLC's air quality in the middle of an inversion is like getting worked up about polluted water after watching Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Sure the water is atrocious and it's a crying shame, but the water is likely no less polluted in any other metropolitan area hit by a hurricane, it's just the Geography is less advantageous to New Orleans.

austenallred 14y ago

At least we don't have Geneva Steel anymore. Man that was a nightmare.