Below are highlights from climate and clean air news from Utah for the week of August 20, 2021.
- The Senate just passed the bipartisan “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” which includes significant new national investments in energy grid infrastructure, clean energy, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and resiliency projects. See a summary of the Senate infrastructure bill here: https://utahcleanenergy.org/infrastructure/
- Sarah Wright of Utah Clean Energy and Professor Rob Davies of Utah Clean Energy discussed the climate implications of the infrastructure investments with KSL a few weeks ago: https://www.ksl.com/article/50218089/romney-says-infrastructure-bill-will-deliver-for-utah-climate-advocates-say-its-a-start
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Sixth Assessment, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a “code red for humanity.” The Deseret News discussed how the report shows that Utah and the American West needs to prepare for climate change. “As we have said before, the time for using global climate change as a political weapon is over. Anyone watching the struggling agriculture industry or listening to nervous water managers in Utah as they eye shrinking reservoirs knows the situation is dire, whatever one chooses to call it.” See the editorial at https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/8/10/22617520/drought-climate-change-american-west-ipcc-report-innovation-needed-un
- The Utah Foundation penned a report that delves into how Utah can position itself to benefit from the “New Climate Economy,” focusing especially on zero-emissions energy resources. See the report at https://www.utahfoundation.org/reports/going-for-the-green-how-utah-can-thrive-in-the-new-clean-economy/
- Severe drought has caused the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to cut water deliveries from the Colorado River for the first time ever. See more in the Salt Lake Tribune: https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/08/16/water-shortage-declared/
- New Climate and Clean Air Compact signatory and CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce Jennifer Wesselhoff talked about how the Utah Climate and Clean Air Compact is a unique initiative that is “pragmatic trailblazing.” See more in the Park Record at https://www.parkrecord.com/opinion/columns/jennifer-wesselhoff-we-can-lead-the-way-on-climate/
- Climate and Clean Air Compact signatory Don Jarvis of Provo gave a great overview of air and ground source heat pumps, a form of highly-efficient electric heating, in the Provo Daily Herald: https://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/local-guest-opinions/guest-op-ed-would-you-want-a-heat-pump/article_c11119d0-30ec-5d4d-bd17-14ea6e25ff50.html
Image credit: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, AP take from KSL News