Environment
Our ecological environment is the most important possession we pass down to our children. Loose controls on clean air and clean water are starting to come back to haunt us in the form of excessive mercury deposits in fish and game. We now warn pregnant women to refrain from eating certain kinds of fish, hunters are told not to eat certain water fowl, and children born with autism and autistic symptoms has seen a drastic rise in the past decade.
At the core of this problem is our dependency on fossil fuels. Even if we were to find a way to lower the skyrocketing price of oil, the cost extracted against our health still remains. Clean, plentiful energy is an important goal not only for our economy but for our future health.
Whether or not a massive push towards clean energy production would change global warming is debatable, but one thing is certain, we would end up with cleaner air and water as a result. In spite of traditional favoritism of industry, it makes little difference if our economy is producing for a sick and ailing populace. The health of Americans should be the first priority, above looser regulation.
Utah's role as a dumping ground for the rest of nation and world must cease. Impoverished populations like the Goshute tribe are forced into deals with the devil not only accepting spent nuclear fission rods, but also incineration of nerve agents, and the coal-fired Intermountain Power Project. Bringing in these polluting industries endangers not only their own population, but the rest of Utah. Instead, these areas should be given opportunities to demonstrate clean power to the rest of the nation. For example, the Utah desert is ideally suited for building a solar chimney farm, where it would take advantage of our plentiful sunlight. To reduce the amount of radioactive waste being produced, we should focus our new nuclear initiatives not on fission, but on the clean possibilities of fusion.
Local control and communication is also an essential part of taking care of environment. The declaration of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument without local cooperation did more to harm the environment of that area than it did to protect it. The Federal government needs to work in cooperation with local officials rather in opposition. I have confidence in the people of Utah, their love of the outdoors, and their commitment to the future of their children. The majority of Utahns want to preserve and protect their backyards and know best how to take care of their own environment.
The country needs a national land use policy. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has suggested why and how such a policy should and could be instituted in his current book "Cities in the Wilderness - a New Vision of Land Use in America". Babbitt analyzes the mistakes that were made in the creation of Grand Staircase and advocates a collaborative approach that involves strong federal incentives and conditions.
