We are grateful

By the Sustainability Office

It is easy to be cynical. It’s hard to escape any day without the weight of the world creeping into our thoughts, our conversations, or even our dreams. It can be overwhelming.

And yet …

We are not alone. We are thankful for the world leaders who committed to important steps to reduce the threats of climate change earlier this month at COP26, the annual climate change summit. We are thankful for the protesters pushing, demanding that countries do more to protect communities. And we are most thankful to those engaging in the everyday work to address climate change, systemic racism, environmental degradation and countless other complex issues where change is desperately needed.

It is easy to be cynical. But it is also easy to be grateful.

Jessica Chaplain, PhD student in Communication at the U, attended COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland at the beginning of November. Below is a highlight of her experience inside and outside the event center.

Jessica Chaplain, PhD student in Communications at the U, poses at the entrance of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland at the beginning of November 2021.Chaplain poses in front of a welcome display at COP26.

These were posters put up in the Green Zone, which was the area of COP26 anyone could enter and was dedicated to researchers and civil society members. The posters highlight the urgent need for climate-related solutions.These posters hung in the Green Zone, which was the area of COP26 anyone could enter and was dedicated to researchers and civil society members.

This was one of the event spaces within the Blue Zone called the action hub. It had music and side events. It was also a place for people to sit and work. At COP26 in Glasgow, ScotlandThe Action Hub in the Blue Zone was an event space at COP26. It had music and side events. It was also a place for people to work.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons protest outside COP26 in November 2021.

Indigenous women gave speeches at a protest outside the COP26 venue to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women. The rally was right outside the front gate to make sure those those entering the summit would hear about the issue.

This was an event by the international collective Minga Indigena that brings together communities throughout the Americas to discuss shared experiences of colonialsm, extractive industries, and climate injustices. The group centers Indigenous knowledges and experiences to raise awareness for frontline communities facing the legal and illegal destruction of their biodiversty rich ecosystems and communities.

Minga Indigena—an international collective that brings together communities throughout the Americas to discuss shared experiences of colonialism, extractive industries, and climate injustices—hosted a session at COP26. The group centers Indigenous knowledges and experiences.

 

This discussion centered around migration associated with climate change, specifically within South Asia. The event aimed to think about solutions for addressing loss and damage caused by more extreme weather events.This discussion focused on migration associated with climate change, specifically within South Asia. Speakers described solutions for addressing loss and damage caused by extreme weather events.

This was a protest by Extinction Rebellion right outside the entrance of COP26 to highlight the death and destruction enabled by climate inaction.Extinction Rebellion, an international non-violent environmental movement, hosted a protest outside the entrance of COP26 to highlight the death and destruction enabled by climate inaction.

GCSC Seminar: Awakening an Audience with Environmental Theater

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office

Thinking about climate change can be so overwhelming that we might, at times, wish to look away. Some aren’t willing to look at all. Phantom Limb Company invites us to consider our relationship to the natural world through a different lens—one that is mesmerizing, emotional, and beautiful.

On Tuesday, April 20 at 4 p.m., co-founder and artistic director of Phantom Limb Company Jessica Grindstaff will give her GCSC seminar, “Storytelling, Imagism and Empathy: Awakening an Audience,” which explores puppetry and performing arts as methods of generating emotion and action around environmental issues and climate change. Three virtual performances by Phantom Limb are also offered through UtahPresents, with the final screening on April 22. Ticket holders will be able to view all three performances through April 30.

Jessica Grindstaff began her career as a visual artist, and arrived in the theater industry through an unexpected twist of events. “I can’t really explain how we ended up where we have,” she says of her journey with co-founder, Erik Sanko. “We had a visual art show together, and then the gallerist wanted him to do a little performance with the puppets that he was exhibiting.”

“We just accidentally ended up making this play,” Grindstaff says. “It was supposed to run for a couple of weeks in downtown New York, and then the New York Times wrote it up and it ended up running for three months.”

The show was a huge success. After it closed, a producer approached Grindstaff and Sanko and asked what they hoped to do next. “We both had been big fans of the Shackleton story, so we said let’s make a play about that,” Grindstaff reflects. They received a grant to fund their idea, and soon found themselves in Antarctica researching Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. “I would say that it was actually there where it started to become real for me,” Grindstaff says. “I started to understand what I wanted to do”

In Antarctica, Grindstaff and Sanko met and worked with scientists whose research centered on climate change and melting ice. “The majority of their work [was]… in one way or another cataloging the effects of climate change on the ice, on the land, on the animals that live there,” Grindstaff explains. “So, rather than the play just being about Ernest Shackleton, we introduced a component to the piece that was about the future of Antarctica and climate change.”

It became important to Grindstaff and Sanko that their work include a social and environmental message. “And so, we decided to make a trilogy,” Grindstaff says. “We would spend the next 10 years making a trilogy that was related to people’s relationships to the environment and nature, and how that was changing,”

The second piece in the trilogy, Memory Rings, is about the Methuselah—the world’s oldest living tree. “We were looking at the timeline of that tree’s life and everything that happened from germination until now, and looking for stories of people’s relationship to the forest or wood over that time,” Grindstaff says. The final piece in the trilogy, Falling Out, takes place in Fukushima and examines the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear meltdown—a natural disaster paired with a manmade disaster.

Phantom Limb’s plays rarely have words, focusing instead on movement and imagery. “On stage, we’re placing images near one another and then ask an audience to make their own connections,” Grindstaff says. “Especially when you’re talking about things like climate—issues that are overly described to us in society in very specific ways that are often around fear, or guilt, or what we should personally be doing—I think leaving space for people in that conversation to find out who they are, and what their role and what their thoughts are in it and their emotions are in it, is really important and it’s really powerful.”

Grindstaff and Sanko use puppets, in part because they are an effective medium for generating emotion. “For a puppet to work, someone has to empathize,” Grindstaff explains. “The puppet is nothing. It’s a piece of wood or a papier-mache. An audience member has to engage in the work on an empathetic level, they have to put themselves inside of it. And I think around the topics of climate and climate change and our roles in our communities, that that is a great thing to do.”

The results of their art are hard to measure, Grindstaff says, but audience members often tell her that they feel moved and leave the theater thinking about their own roles within these complex issues. “They walked out looking at themselves, which is a goal, I think, in our work.”

Register for Grindstaff’s talk on Tuesday, April 20 at 4 p.m. to learn more about Phantom Limb Company’s work, and how environmental art moves hearts and minds.

GCSC Seminar: Reframing the Story of Environmentalism to Highlight Inequality, Justice

By Maria Archibald, Sustainability Office

What is the role of the university in addressing the climate crisis? How can academics engage proactively in environmental and social justice work? How can we transform our institutions to meet this political moment with the urgency it demands?

In her upcoming Global Change & Sustainability Center talk, “Interdisciplinarity, Intersectionality and Environmental Justice: The Time is Now,” Dr. Julie Sze, author and professor of American Studies at the University of California at Davis, will tackle these challenging questions. Sze, whose background is in English, Ethnic Studies, and Peace and Conflict, was drawn to environmental justice work because of the movement’s intersectional approach to environmentalism.

“Mainstream environmentalism is constructed as mostly white, and wilderness, and conservationist,” Sze says. “That erases the stories of people of color and cities and workers,” whereas “environmental justice as a movement was always about reframing the story of environmentalism.”

Sze’s research, which emphasizes environmental justice, inequality, and the intersection between social movements and policy, has led her to believe that we must construct a different kind of university in order to respond effectively to the climate crisis.

What does a different kind of university look like? Sze explains that there is no hard and fast answer to this question, but that we must think critically in ways that draw upon social movements and systemic alternatives to discover the university’s role in addressing the climate crisis.

“There isn’t one easy model,” Sze says, and the process involves examining what students are taught in classes, who they learn from, and what is left out of the curriculum. She says it also means imagining universities that are not based in neo-liberalism, debt, and extraction, and planning campuses that provide more services and less policing.

“Can we have campuses without cops?” Sze asks. “That’s a different kind of university.”

As a scholar and educator, Sze also values academic spaces as entry points to environmental justice work. She was motivated to become politically engaged as an undergraduate student, but says of her upbringing, “I didn’t come from a very political background. It’s not part of my genealogy, my family history, my community, to be interested in these kinds of things.”

She believes that universities are integral to solving the climate crisis because of the opportunities they create for students like her to learn things outside of their own lived experiences and to develop passion for environmental justice regardless of their upbringing. When universities make space for students to ask questions, feel outraged, and be curious, “more and more of them want to do this work…and make meaning in their lives,” she says.

On creating a “new kind of university,” Sze argues that we must always remember how our work in academia is connected to the outside world. She points out that while scientists have been warning about climate change for years, our response has not met the magnitude of the crisis. “How much empirical evidence do we have to show before something’s done?” she asks.

The crises we face today must be met with creativity and urgency. “On the one hand, we have to do what we’ve always done, because it really matters,” Sze says. On the other hand, we have to do something else.” Join Sze at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 at tinyurl.com/gcsc-sze to learn more about what that “something else” looks like, and how you can contribute to the movement.

UTA on Demand by Via

This article, originally published in @theu, February 11, 2020, was written by Claudia TrochezCommuter Services

Thanks to UTA’s Ed-Pass, students, faculty and staff can ride the bus, TRAX and FrontRunner for no additional fee, making public transit the obvious choice for commuting to campus. Depending on where you live exactly, UTA service can either be an invaluable resource or a not-so-convenient option that doesn’t work well with your schedule.

For residents in southern Salt Lake County where UTA service is less abundant, accessing public transit is more challenging. To help bridge the gap, UTA launched its microtransit pilot program, UTA on Demand by Viawhich intends to enhance connectivity to TRAX and FrontRunner lines for commuters in the southern part of the valley by providing on demand rides to and from TRAX stations.

What is UTA on Demand by Via? 

UTA’s microtransit pilot program serves about 65 square miles in southern Salt Lake County, serving the cities of Bluffdale, Draper, Herriman, Riverton and South Jordan. The service area includes seven TRAX and FrontRunner stations with designated pickup and drop off locations, making connections to campus more accessible than ever.

Via’s technology matches multiple riders headed in a similar direction into a single van, with quick and efficient routing, avoiding lengthy detours. After requesting a ride, the app will display the pickup location where the vehicle will meet you. Via is a corner-to-corner service, meaning riders will be picked up and dropped off close to their destination.

How does it work? 

Riders may hail a van by using the Via app, available on the App Store and Google Play. The microtransit service operates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is available to students, faculty and staff at no additional fee. University affiliates with a valid uNID should use their Ed-Pass, in lieu of paying fare, by hitting the ‘UTA Pass/Ticket/Transfer’ when signing up.

ADA riders may request an accessible van by selecting ‘wheelchair accessibility’ in their profile.

For example, if you live in Draper and work on campus, you can get a lift to the Draper Town Center or Kimball Lane TRAX stations by requesting a UTA on Demand ride through the Via app. At the end of the day, you can be picked up at the TRAX station and return to where you started near your home, the grocery store or anywhere within the service area (see map below) for no charge. The service will also be useful for patients traveling to and from the South Jordan Health Center.

Why should I ride UTA? 

A perk of the U community, all current students, faculty and staff members may ride UTA services, including the microtransit program, without paying fare. Choosing UTA over driving allows you to save money on car-related expenses including gas, maintenance and parking permits.

In addition to saving some green, you can also be green by choosing UTA over driving. Salt Lake City’s poor air quality is undeniable during inversion season. According to a recent study, “at least 85% of harmful emissions come from fossil fuel,” meaning the CO2 produced by cars is the lead contributor to the air quality problem Utahans face. Riding UTA will continually help reduce emissions and help keep our air clean.

Driving to the university campus from southern Salt Lake County may take anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes or more, depending on traffic and weather. While riding UTA will not likely decrease your commute time, it will certainly ease its difficulties and be safer, too. You’ll be able to start your workday sooner, catch up on emails, read or watch Netflix, instead of sitting behind the wheel in traffic or on icy, dangerous roads.

Share your thoughts

UTA on Demand by Via is a pilot program and UTA wants to hear from you. Take this survey to share your thoughts and help UTA study effective ‘first-and-last mile’ connections to our bus and rail services.

For more information on UTA on Demand by Via and all other services, visit call 801-RIDE-UTA.

Are you a space heater user?

This article, originally published in @theu, February 5, 2020, was written by Kate Whitbeck, communications manager, Sustainability Office

Take part in our space heater exchange program to help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while keeping you comfortable. For every personal space heater brought in as part of this program, University faculty, staff and interns can choose between an energy-efficient electric blanket or plush non-electric blanket. Blankets are also available for purchase without trade-in.

Personal space heaters are energy drains and greenhouse gas emitters that affect the air we breathe. By switching to an electric throw, you’ll make an immediate difference.

These electric throws use 90% less energy than a typical portable electric space heater! Energy savings also result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Using a typical portable electric space heater for 8 hours produces carbon dioxide equivalent to driving 20.7 miles in an average passenger vehicle. To put this in perspective, by switching from a space heater to an electric throw, you’ll save the emissions equivalent of a trip from the University campus to the border of Idaho – every week!

Our exchange program is open to all faculty, staff and interns who wish to trade in the portable electric space heaters they use on campus. Throws are free with trade-in of space heater, or can be purchased: $20 for non-electric and $30 for electric. To participate in this exchange program, please submit the form below.

 

Slow Your Commute

How shifting your commute can add to the journey (and clear our air)

By Kate Whitbeck, Communications, Sustainability Office

We have all heard of slow food and fast fashion, and how we want to seek out the first and avoid the second. What about slow transportation? It’s a concept that suggests getting to your destination as quickly as possible shouldn’t be your primary goal. Your commute can serve many different purposes. Slowing your commute can add to the journey (and clear our air).

Before I started working at the university, I was a slave to my vehicle, racing off each morning to drop my kids at school then driving 25 minutes to my office—which was in a public transit desert—and then racing back to pick up my kids, fitting in a few errands and driving home. I arrived home stressed from dealing with traffic, frustrated that I hadn’t fit in any exercise and anxious that I hadn’t had time to finish my work at the office.

When I started working at the university I had the great fortune to became a regular public transit user. There were a number of factors that made it work: 1) I live within a few miles of the campus; 2) There are at least three bus routes that travel to the U within about 4-5 blocks of my house; and 3) All my children could get to school using the same bus route. It didn’t hurt that my university ID also covered my fare.

Admittedly, for me it does take longer to get from place to place using public transportation. At first, I struggled thinking that this was wasted time that I could spend doing other things until I realized that my commute brought me home at the end of the day without the frustrations of dealing with traffic and had allowed me to fit in my 10,000 steps, connect with my children in a relaxed way and saved me money. This is when I shifted my attitude around my commute and embraced slow transportation.

Slow transportation is about rejecting speed as the objective and reimagining our transition from one place to another as an opportunity to check off other boxes.  Your morning commute (in something other than a single-occupant vehicle) can serve as the following:

Exercise Time: Depending on what your commute looks like it can take the place of a trip to the gym.  The bus route that runs to the U most frequently is further from my house. It also drops me further from my office. This could be viewed either as an impediment or as an opportunity to get in more steps.  Biking or walking to work serve that same purpose.

Work Time: Taking the train and the bus can allow you to put in extra work time. An uninterrupted hour at the beginning and end of the day can allow you to use your time in the office more effectively.

Relaxation Time: Taking TRAX, FrontRunner or the bus allows you to listen to your favorite podcast, catch up on the news, or scroll through social media. If you own a good set of noise-canceling headphones you can turn your transit commute into a meditation session. Doing absolutely nothing but staring out the window and letting your mind wander can also feel incredibly liberating. You arrive feeling refreshed and ready to get to work.

Connection Time: In my case, my commute allows me another 15 minutes of uninterrupted, undistracted time with my children. I am not fighting traffic, thinking about where to park, or battling unsafe road conditions. I get that not everyone’s lives allow for this intersection, but it can allow for connection of a different sort.

Slowing down your commute, especially by walking or biking, allows you to connect to your city and its inhabitants in a new way. When you walk the last few blocks to your destination you notice things that you wouldn’t see when whizzing by in a car. You notice the new businesses that have opened, those that have shut down. You notice that the neighbor two blocks away painted their house blue. You begin to recognize other slow commuters. You interact with strangers giving directions or chatting at the bus stop. These interactions help us feel grounded and connected to our community.

Sometimes I think we weren’t meant to move so quickly from one place to the next. When we are dependent on our own two feet to get places, we are far from the fastest species on the planet. For the majority of the millennia our species has inhabited this planet it took time to get from one place to another, enough time to mentally transition so that when we arrived at our destination we were present in a different way. Maybe we haven’t yet evolved to travel so quickly from one place to another.  Maybe we all need to try a little slow transportation.

 

Throughout February, consider slowing your commute. Take action on air quality by tracking your commute behaviors with the Clear the Air Challenge, a statewide competition that aims to reduce emissions from vehicles by promoting alternative transit options. Join the U team at travelwisetracker.com/s/university-of-utah.

Mark your calendar for Winter Bike to Work Day – February 13th, 4-6 pm. Cyclists are invited to stop by our two pop-up locations on Guardsman Way and the Legacy Bridge for hot drinks and free resources on their commute home.

Australia on fire: What are the impacts?

This article, originally published in @theu, January 16, 2020, was written by Lisa Potter, science writer, University of Utah Communications

Charred koalas, acres of burning forest, families hiding in the ocean—images of the Australian bushfires are disturbing. The latest estimates say that over 25 million acres have burned. For context, the famous “Black Saturday” bushfires in 2009, one of the worst in Australia’s history, burned 1.1 million acres. The widely reported 2019 fires in the Amazon basin burned approximately 17.5 million acres. At least 28 people have died.

Mitchell Power, curator of the Garrett Herbarium at the Natural History Museum of Utah and associate professor of geography, is a paleofire scientist. He looks at thousands of years of history through sediment records to see how fire has shaped plants and animal communities for millennia. @theU spoke with Power to help wrap our heads around the Australian bushfires.

Fires are a regular part of Australia’s ecosystems. How are these different?

The fact such a large area burned in Australia in just a few months is remarkable. Several of my colleagues at the University of Utah have worked closely with Indigenous Australian peoples and learned how fire has been used as a tool for millennia to optimize their own subsistence and cultural practices while minimizing the negative consequences of large-scale destructive fires.

Ultimately, the key difference between prehistoric fires and those seen today is scale. The traditional use of fire, which has likely been in place for over 65,000 years, still occurs in large regions of northern Australia where Indigenous communities practice cool-season burning to create patchy landscapes buffered against large-scale fire events.

Reading and listening to discussions by fire ecologists, anthropologists, climatologists and geographers in Australia makes one thing clear—the 2019-2020 bushfires are likely on a scale not experienced for millennia.

How have the fires impacted animals?

The latest figures out for the number of animals being impacted is estimated at over 1.3 billion animals. Estimations from Chris Dickman, an expert on Australian biodiversity at the University of Sydney, suggests the number of species affected may be much higher.

A recent estimate from the Australian environment minister suggests that over 8,000 koalas were killed in just the New South Wales fires, and that estimate is likely to grow. Animals like rodents and reptiles that can burrow or outrun the flames may face peril later as food, water and other resources necessary for their survival and reproduction success, are unavailable. Reptiles, which tend to burrow in soils and may potentially survive the initial wave of flames, will discover the resources they depend on may not be available after the fires have passed.

What circumstances led to these wildfires?

In a single word: climate. The combination of multiyear trends of record heat and unprecedented drought in a region that’s already dry, has led to the extreme fire conditions. 2019 was the hottest year on record for Australia with temperatures 1.52°C above the 30-year average based on data from 1961 to 1990. The fires burning in New South Wales, for example, are in response to a region that broke high-temperature records set in 2018 by 1.95° C warmer than normal. In comparison, the second hottest year since 1900 records began in Australia was 2013, followed by 2005, 2018 and 2017, consecutively. In terms of drought, 2019 also made new records, with 40% lower precipitation than the long-term average.

Is Australia able to fight the fires?

Fighting or attempting to suppress the current bushfires is difficult if not impossible. The magnitude of the problem is beyond what most wildland firefighters are trained for. When extreme weather occurs, including higher-than-average temperatures and lower than average moisture, paired with extreme winds and unpredictable fire behavior, the firefighting toolkit becomes obsolete.

An additional challenge is seasonality. As in the United States, Australia firefighting is organized around the concept of a “fire season,” which suggests a predictable time of year to maximize resources. As much of the world experiences rapid changes in our climate system, anomalous warm days in the winter months and extreme drought in the wet season are now common conversations. The ability to predict the time and place of extreme fire conditions is being tossed out the window.

Can the ecosystems recover?

Ecosystems recover—the Earth has a way of healing after large-scale disturbances. The challenge comes when humans further reduce the biological diversity and confine that diversity to increasingly small refugia. The problem in extreme fire conditions is when the seeds stored in soils—the habitats available for animals to reproduce and survive in—are lost or significantly reduced.

There is some optimism emerging from the Australian fires. Just weeks after bushfires have passed, many habitats are beginning the slow process of recovery. Most of these systems have evolved with fire, so plants and animals know how to take advantage of the disturbance. Photographs of seedlings emerging from the charred landscape give hope after the smoke has cleared. The disconnect between destruction and recovery is really a human construct. Our lifespans are often too short to see an ecosystem completely recover.

It is unclear if vegetation and animal communities will return to normal in Australia, and it is unclear how normal will be defined. The reality is that species are going extinct at unprecedented rates all over the world. Our climate system is beginning to express itself as a runaway train, and we all have a tremendous amount of work to do if we want to give earth and its ecosystems the ability to recover after these extreme disturbance events.

Taking action to improve air quality

This article, originally published in @theu, January 7, 2020, was written by Nick Thiriot, communications director, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute has released a breakthrough report designed to inform Utah’s efforts to improve air quality and address a changing climate. The report, called “The Utah Roadmap,” was requested by the Utah Legislature and includes seven priority strategies to reduce air emissions in Utah. If followed, these strategies will protect Utahns’ health, encourage economic development (particularly in Utah’s growing tech sector), advance Utah’s Olympic bid and support Utah energy economies in transition.

“Utahns feel a sense of urgency to improve air quality,” said Natalie Gochnour, director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. “The strategies in this report build from the Utah Legislature’s House Concurrent Resolution 7 in the 2018 General Legislative Session to recognize the dual benefit to Utah’s air shed and the climate as we reduce air emissions in Utah, all in a way that protects our health and strengthens our economy.”

“The Utah Roadmap” includes the findings of a six-month expert assessment involving input from representatives of Utah’s research universities; federal, state and local government; industry; health care; and the nonprofit sector.

Some major findings

  • Success stories: Utah is making significant progress in curtailing emissions. Of particular note is the conversion to Tier 3 fuels; investments in renewable natural gas, wind and solar; conversion to electric-hybrid buses; and investment statewide in electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
  • Air quality/climate link: There is a link between improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing auto dependency, improving energy efficiency, and advancing innovative energy solutions, Utah can address both challenges simultaneously.
  • Utah’s CO2 footprint: Utah’s per-person CO2 emissions, at 19.3 metric tons, are higher than the national average of 16.0 metric tons and are higher than Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and California. Utah’s reliance occurs because of the state’s coal-fired power plants, which are all set to convert to natural gas, hydrogen or close within the study’s timeframe. Utah’s overall CO2 emissions are small on a national and global scale, representing 1.1% of the national footprint and 0.2% of the global footprint.

The institute selected seven priority actions for gubernatorial, legislative and individual action. At the top of the list is a recommendation that the state adopts—by resolution or statute—a goal to reduce criteria pollutant air emissions by 50% and CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050.

“These goals will inform our individual as well as collective actions,” said Tom Holst, senior energy analyst for the institute. “Much like a map provides direction, ‘The Utah Roadmap’ provides a guide to Utahns and state decision-makers as we travel along the path to cleaner air and responsible global citizenship.”

Taking action

“The Utah Roadmap” encourages the following actions, many of which are already underway:

  • Lead by example: State government to convert to an all-electric/compressed natural/renewable natural gas fleet where practical, adopt energy efficiency goals in state buildings and establish telework targets.
  • Create premier air quality/changing climate solutions laboratory: State government to establish and fund a premier state-level air quality/changing climate research solutions laboratory to improve the monitoring network, advance new technologies and convene entrepreneurs and experts to innovate.
  • Accelerate quality growth efforts: Utah to redouble quality growth efforts, including investment in transit, critical land preservation and the linking of economic development with transportation and housing decisions.
  • Position Utah as the market-based electric vehicle state: Utah to expand the state’s network of EV charging stations and incentivize EV/CNG/RNG use (particularly for older vehicles and large fleets).
  • Provide significant economic transition assistance to rural communities: The state to prioritize economic development assistance in energy-transition areas such as Carbon and Emery counties.
  • Participate in the national dialogue about market-based approaches to reduce carbon emissions: The state to become a leader in national discussions about how to harness the power of market forces and new technologies to reduce carbon emissions in a way that protects health, sustains economic development and offers other benefits to Utahns.

These priority actions are accompanied in “The Utah Roadmap” by 55 other high-impact, low-cost options to reduce emissions.

In addition to convening technical experts in a collaborative process, the institute conducted roundtable discussions and focus groups with public interest groups, legislators, businesses and college students to garner feedback. Two focus groups were hosted in rural Utah (Richfield and Duchesne).

The current draft of “The Utah Roadmap” is publicly available through Jan. 27, 2020, at gardner.utah.edu/utahroadmap. A final version will be submitted to the Utah Legislature by the end of January 2020.

“The Gardner Institute was given a challenging assignment by the Utah Legislature to prepare a roadmap on this complex issue, in a short time frame, on an emotionally charged topic,” said Gochnour. “Utahns have a long and proud history of leading on challenging topics, whether it be refugee resettlement, immigration reform, anti-discrimination statutes, quality growth or religious freedom. ‘The Utah Roadmap’ presents another opportunity for Utah to lead.”

Technical Advisory Committee

Tom Adams, Governor’s Office of Outdoor Recreation
Scott Baird, Utah Department of Environmental Quality
Vicki Bennett, Salt Lake City Department of Sustainability
Kip Billings, Wasatch Front Regional Council
Bryce Bird, Utah Division of Air Quality
Josh Brown, Rio Tinto
Andrea Brunelle, University of Utah’s Department of Geography
Thom Carter, UCAIR
Becky Close, Utah Division of Air Quality
Jon Cox, Rocky Mountain Power
Brett Crable, Dominion Energy
Josh Craft, Utah Clean Energy
Royal DeLegge, Salt Lake County
Jenny Esker, Rio Tinto
Robert Gillies, Utah State University
Andrew Gruber, Wasatch Front Regional Council
Thomas Holst, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Benjamin Horne, lntermountain Healthcare
Ben Huot, Utah Department of Transportation
Liza Kasavana, University of Utah Health’s College of Nursing
Kerry Kelly, University of Utah’s Department of Chemical Engineering
Michelle Larsen, Utah Transit Authority
GJ LaBonty, Utah Transit Authority
Brian McInerney, National Weather Service
Shauna Mecham, Mountainland Association of Governments
Daniel Mendoza, University of Utah’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences and Pulmonary Division
Logan Mitchell, University of Utah’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences
James Owen, Rocky Mountain Power
Cheryl Pirozzi, University of Utah Health’s Pulmonary Division
Binod Pokharel, Utah State University
Tyler Poulson, Salt Lake City Department of Sustainability
Michael Shea, Salt Lake County
Brian Shiozawa, University of Utah Health
Glade Sowards, Utah Division of Air Quality
Juliette Tennert, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Brooke Tucker, Governor’s Office of Energy Development
Sarah Wright, Utah Clean Energy

Consultants and staff

Samantha Ball, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Kirsten Dodge, Wilkinson Ferrari & Co.
Natalie Gochnour, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Meredith King, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Siobhan Locke, The Langdon Group
Dianne Meppen, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Dianne Olson, The Langdon Group
Jennifer Robinson, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Paul Springer, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
Brian Wilkinson, Wilkinson Ferrari & Co.

Media Contacts

Nicholas Thiriot | communications specialist, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

The Intersection of Tribal and Environmental Law

by Amber Aumiller, graduate assistant, Sustainability Office

While many of us are aware of some of the federal environmental protections that became law and policy in 1970 thanks to pressure from an increasingly aware and concerned citizen population, as well as the recent rollbacks of environmental protections attempted under the Trump administration, not many people are aware of the role tribal nations can and are playing in environmental protections.  Tribes are generally free to develop their own governments unless they have been restricted by the federal government via treaties, statutes, or dependence. American Indian land has also historically suffered some of the heaviest pollution, like the legacy of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation.  The development of sovereign tribal environmental law provides an opportunity to not only address holes in federal regulations surrounding things like pollution due to resource extraction, but can also bolster protections for indigenous sovereign rights, and provide a systematic structure for addressing a future made unpredictable by climate change. Our laws are an expression of what we value and sovereign tribal environmental law is helping to push the boundaries of environmental protection and conservation to support values beyond economic profit.

S.J. Quinney’s College of Law School Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner’s lecture, “Tribal Environmental Law” on Tuesday, January 14th, from 4 – 5 p.m., in ASB 210, will examine the intersection of tribal law and environmental law and look at ways tribal law is helping to innovate beyond federal environmental law. The talk will also explore opportunities for fields and disciplines other than law to engage in the development of tribal environmental law.

Kronk Warner, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is both the first female and the first Native American dean at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. She grew up with the challenges of reservation life and cites her parents, both attorneys, as inspiration for her career trajectory. “I saw all the positives there were to being a lawyer and the difference you can make being a part of your community and that was very inspirational to me,” she says.  After earning a B.S. in Communication from Cornell University, Kronk Warner earned her Juris Doctorate at the University of Michigan, both schools appealing to her for their strength in American Indian programs.  She practiced environmental, Indian and energy law for years before serving in faculty positions at Texas Tech University, the University of Montana, and as the Associate Dean and Professor of Law for the University of Kansas Law School.  She was also the Director of the Tribal Law and Government Center and a leader in developing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in both curriculum and among staff and students at the University of Kansas Law School.  With her natural leadership skills, a long list of accolades following hard and passionate work, and her vision for possibilities and constructive solutions she is already building a foundation for an inspiring and impactful future at Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

As a nationally recognized expert on where environmental and tribal law converge, she speaks to the need for the tailoring of solutions to places. “Many of our environmental protection laws were developed in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and there hasn’t really been any notable innovation in federal law since then,” says Kronk Warner. “There are some real environmental issues which have come to the forefront more recently, like the effects of climate change, so tribes all over the country have been addressing the issues on a local scale.” Climate change affects specific locations differently from others and tribes, as sovereigns, can enact and enforce tribal environmental laws that are suited to the needs and ethics of the tribal community as well as the situational circumstances of the historical present with an eye toward the future. “Tribes are out front in terms of developing mitigation and adaptation plans to deal with climate change and its effects,” she reminds us.

To learn more about the sovereignty of tribes, the laws being implemented, and the exciting possibilities for furthering environmental protections come to ASB 210 on Tuesday, January 14th for Dean Kronk Warner’s lecture, “Tribal Environmental Law” as part of the GCSC seminar series.  As always, there will be coffee and treats so bring your mug and enjoy!

Building Climate Change Resilience

by Amber Aumiller, graduate assistant, Sustainability Office

Growing our climate literacy empowers us to take steps to help ourselves, help others, and broaden our impact toward sustaining our world, but learning about the complex multitude of mounting problems can also tumble us into deep feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, and grief.  A growing part of our population is experiencing “ecological grief.”  Psychology Today defines it as “a fairly recent psychological disorder afflicting individuals who worry about the environmental crisis.” It can be characterized by elevated rates of depression, anxiety, anger, hopelessness, despair, and a feeling of loss. 

It is neither a surprising nor an inappropriate response given the magnitude of the problem. Massive species extinctions are occurring at unprecedented rates due to human activity. On land, amphibians and reptiles are suffering the most, we’re down 3 billion birds in North America since 1970, and the oceans are acidifying and losing oxygen-giving plankton. In Utah, we’ve lost 41% of our snowpack since 1980. 

We face problems with water supply, environmental degradation, severe weather, and the overlapping implications for our physical health, mental health, and community health due to living out of balance with the ecosystems that contain us. It is no wonder that we feel overwhelmed, frustrated and powerless. 

So how can we address these feelings? While we mourn the mistakes and losses, there are ways we can take care of ourselves, heal, and maintain our ability to keep facing issues with vibrant and creative solutions. Research tells us that one of the best ways to combat eco-anxiety, depression, and grief is to start with building social cohesion. A developing sense of isolation and not belonging spirals the feedback loop of loss faster. Nurturing our relationships and connections to each other not only enhances our personal feelings of resilience but also constructs networks across knowledge and skills that can contribute to creative solutions. 

Communities aligned by common goals can reduce the severity of the impact of climate change. Simply helping each other out in neighborly ways can boost feelings of empowerment and ease our anxiety and depression according to a report published by the American Psychological Association. The report also noted a decrease in depression when healthy lifestyle choices were adopted, like walking, biking, or taking public transit. Green spaces in cities help, too. During the Chicago heatwave, there was a reduction in deaths in parts of the city that had green spaces. Going to the park, working in the garden, or going for a hike in the mountains can lift your spirits and increase your chances of survival during climate stress events.

Here at the U, there are countless people focused on preparing us to adapt and withstand the changes wrought by a changing climate. We have faculty and students conducting cutting-edge research on climate-related issues and dedicated individuals focused on implementing solutions at the local level. Getting involved can be as easy as volunteering through the Bennion Center or joining one of the student clubs addressing environmental issues on campus. One such organization, the Future Clinicians for Clean Air, founded by graduate students in the health sciences, aims to use research and evidence to advocate for clean air policies in the Utah legislature, bridging the current gap between science and policy. They have two events coming up in January that provide a way to get involved: one focusing on air quality and health, and the other on advocacy training and air quality bills coming up in 2020 with policy experts from HEAL Utah

The counseling center at the U has many resources for mental healthcare including a Mindfulness Center, featuring free facilitated drop-in meditation and free workshops for coping with anxiety and depression. The Huntsman family also recently donated $150 million to the U to establish The Huntsman Mental Health Institute. This much-needed investment will increase access to mental health services for college-age students as well as the broader community.

Another great resource is the Good Grief Network, co-founded by U alumn LaUra Schmidt. The Good Grief Network offers a unique 10-step program that guides groups through eco-anxiety and climate-grief in a community setting with reminders of the importance of practicing gratitude, showing up, and resting when needed. Their model has inspired local community building internationally and their website also features resource links to articles, documentaries, books, and poetry that educate and inspire action.

While coming to terms with climate change can be overwhelming, it’s okay to start small, focus locally, bring your skillset to the table, and remember to be kind to each other, because together we become more powerful in our ability to take care of ourselves, each other, and the planet.