Clean air is fundamental to our quality of life and it plays a growing role in our efforts to retain and attract the talent needed to strengthen our economy. Simply put, poor air quality increases health care costs, discourages recruitment of businesses and talent, dampens tourism and is a black eye to the perception of Utah. We all breathe the same air, and we all share in the responsibility to keep it clean.
Too often lost in the discussion of this issue is that our efforts are paying off. Utah's air is cleaner today than ever before. And we all need to do our part to continue our positive trend.
Part of our challenge comes from geography. Much of Utah's population lives in a large basin between two mountain ranges and that area is home to more people than ever before. Over the past decade we have added 350,000 people along the Wasatch Front while, at the same time, decreasing our total emissions by 35 percent.
Governor Herbert has worked to require business and industry to adopt stringent new emission controls, and enacted 31 new state rules to reduce pollution. As a result, business is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new technology to help clean our air. These rules will reduce emissions by more than 100 tons per day.
To lead by example, the governor eliminated idling in state vehicles, implementing travel-reduction measures and replaced older state vehicles with alternative-fuel vehicles.
The Herbert administration also created the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) to educate the public about pollution-reduction strategies, coordinate efforts among the air-quality community, and provide grants to support innovative air-quality initiatives.
Tier 3 Fuels
Governor Herbert met with the top executives of the refineries that sell most of the gasoline used in Utah. He encouraged these companies to produce cleaner Tier 3 fuels for our market to help clean the air we breathe. He also encouraged these companies to accomplish this action ahead of established deadlines.
Utahns have the most to gain by addressing our air quality challenges and Governor Herbert is committed to working with people across our state to keep our air clean.