This news just in. Utah residents enjoy being at the top of the barrel of carbon emissions producers in the country! That puts us on a par with the 4th most polluting nation in the world, not bad when our neighbors in the Union only rank 10th out of 208 on average.
We pay the price for it too, those of us living by the Wasatch Front benefit from the life expectancy of the average chain smoker. That's a two year advance from the coffin department, plus bonus health care bills from your inhalatorily challenged lungs. Children do especially poorly with the acute particulate matter pollution we regularly experience here during inversions.
Particulate matter isn't something you can hide from. Even the best filters in the most sealed houses let slip the finest of particulate matter - which is what does your lungs the most penetrating harm.
Evading an inversion by absconding within your home is actually a good portion of what is causing the pollution (in the range of 18-37% of it)- although it doesn't have to be that way.
Electricity is 37% of our bane. Fluorescents! Wind Power! No to the 14 planned Coal Plants in our region! Energy Star! Photovoltaics!
Residential and commercial fossil fuels (natural gas) is 18%. Programmable thermostats! More insulation! Get a smaller house dammit!
Transportation! Oh our insatiable thirst for the appearance of individuality! 25%! Bike! Bipede! Telecommute! Publicly Transit!
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN during the next inversion if we bundled up, turned our thermostats all the way down, got out of our cars, turned off all of the lights, stepped into the thick air and collectively willed it to CEASE?
...Well the coal plants might still burn for other regions' lights, but hell, that's only 37% of the problem, and if you don't change your direction you'll get where you're headed.
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