Residents of Salt Lake City can frequently see a thick layer of gray smog covering the valley, and all Utahns have seen the familiar signs on the freeway warning drivers of poor air conditions.
Clearly, this is a problem that needs fixing, no matter the economic cost to Rocky Mountain Power, a company which is now opposing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal which would cut nitrous oxide emissions.
In the West, the distance that we can see, or visual range, has decreased from 140 miles to between 35 and 90 miles, mostly because of air pollution, according to the EPA. This decrease not only affects residents of the Western states, but also affects tourism and recreation. A brochure from the EPA, titled “How Air Pollution Affects the View,” describes the detrimental effects on the tourist experience and also lists some of the serious health problems that have been linked to the pollutants that form haze, which include respiratory illness, decreased lung function and even death.
According to the website created by Wyoming for Affordable Power — the coalition that opposes the EPA proposal which includes Rocky Mountain Power — the proposal would cost over $1 billion in capital costs and millions in annual operating costs. The group also claims the benefits would be insignificant.
The EPA’s plan would force certain Wyoming plants to install Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) units, which are considered to be among the best technology available. For Rocky Mountain Power, at lease eight of its Wyoming plants would be included in this plan.
Yes, it would be a cost to Rocky Mountain Power to implement this new technology, but the benefits to the environment and tourism would far outweigh it. Duke Energy, a company that provides gas and electricity in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, uses SCR technology. They claim it “removes between 80 and 90 percent of the nitrous oxide that is in the exhaust gas of a coal-fired power plant.”
If Rocky Mountain Power were to cooperate with the EPA and install this technology, the environment as well as the health and safety of those living in the West, would be better off for it.
Instead of opposing the EPA’s proposal to cut nitrous oxide emissions, Rocky Mountain Power should be encouraging it. Doing so would be in accordance with their Environment Commitment to “strive to be good stewards by conserving natural resources, developing renewable resources, reducing emissions, protecting habitats and more.”