KSL News reported recently that Northern Utah's air is the worst in the nation. We believe that Mormonism naturally lends itself to environmentalism for many reasons, but partially relevant in this case is the direct effect our pollution has on God's children. From the article:

Utah's current inversion is unhealthy, but Utah Division of Air Quality Planning Manager Bryce Bird said we still haven't hit the very unhealthy level. At that point everyone would be advised to limit time outside.

Bird said the inversions themselves are naturally occurring and we can't stop them. He says even early trappers that came to Utah wrote about fog being trapped in the valleys. However Bird says it's not the inversions that are unhealthy, it's the pollution that gets trapped inside the stagnant air.

"The largest pollutant sources are in the Salt Lake City and county area. So we see the pollutants build there fastest. Then as the inversion period lasts, we're kind of seeing it spreading out throughout the basin," said Bird.

He said 50 percent of bad air particles come from vehicles.

"It's not that each car is high polluting because over time cars have become much cleaner. The issue is the million or more cars that are driving around during the inversion, period," said Bird.

That's why the division of air quality continues to ask people to tune up their vehicles and cut back on driving when the cold air gets trapped.

We believe that helping the environment is God's will. Read more on Mormonism and the environment here.