Utah air pollution could impact 2034 Winter Olympics, USU professor warns

SALT LAKE CITY — Earlier this year, pollution in the Seine River postponed events during the 2024 Paris Olympics. A Utah State University professor said the 2034 Winter Olympics could face similar issues if Utah air pollution isn’t reduced. 

Edwin Stafford, a USU professor of marketing with expertise in sustainable entrepreneurship, said that poor air quality could cause a similar situation. At the very least, it could dissuade people from wanting to visit the Beehive State. 

Short-term exposure to pollutants can be dangerous

The 2034 Winter Olympics would likely be held during Utah’s infamous inversion season when air pollution is trapped in the Salt Lake Valley. 

Even short-term exposure to air pollution can be detrimental to human health. According to the World Health Organization, ‘safe’ levels of exposure can fluctuate depending on the pollution’s contents. 

The National Institute of Health said several studies found that short-term exposure to high levels of air pollution can lead to poor lung and cardiac function. 

“[Air pollution could] be a major black eye for Utah. Where the state, particularly Salt Lake and Park City is attempting to become the premier hub … for skiing and winter sports. I think if the world sees our inversions that could be a major problem for us to try to demonstrate to the world that we are the place to be,” said Stafford. 

If people decided not to visit Utah, the state’s economy could take a hit. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah reported that in 2022, tourism generated $11.98 billion. Tourism also created 98,600 jobs. 

Reducing Utah air pollution

According to Stafford, vehicles are a major contributor of PM2.5 to Utah’s air. 

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality said vehicles account for over half of Utah’s PM2.5 emissions. 

“We need to electrify our transportation,” said Stafford. “We’ve got to get more electric vehicles on the roads. That includes bus transportation.”

Electric vehicles don’t produce tailpipe emissions. Therefore their use reduces the amount of particulate matter that enters the air compared to gas-powered alternatives. 

Some areas have been slow to adopt the infrastructure necessary to power electric vehicles. While the Utah Department of Transportation’s website said that the organization is working on expanding infrastructure, some drivers may not be able to go fully electric yet. 

“If we can just get those incentives for the infrastructure … and get people to want to adopt electric cars, that could be very, very helpful,” said Stafford. 

Other options for consumers

Stafford said there are other options. 

“There’s this technology called tier-three cars and tier-three fuel, that Utah has steadily adopted,” said Stafford. 

Individuals can also reduce their emissions by driving hybrid cars and avoiding idling. Ordering food through restaurant mobile apps, parking, and picking it up inside the building can also prevent emissions. 

Aside from vehicles, buildings are also large contributors. Burning natural gas and propane releases toxins into the air. 

“We need to go beyond natural gas because even natural gas puts particulate matter into the atmosphere,” said Stafford. 

Finally, wood-burning stoves contribute to air pollution. “The legislature has created incentives to try to get homes to switch from wood, burning stoves.” 

Even a transition from a wood-burning stove to natural gas would help. 

Get water to Great Salt Lake

When the wind blows near Great Salt Lake, it picks up particles from the drying lakebed. 

“It picks up all these things from arsenic to antimony to copper. All sorts of dangerous heavy metals and things that we should be concerned about [whether they] blow into the valley and along the Wasatch Front,” said Stafford. 

While the lake has somewhat recovered from a historic low in 2022, Utahns need to keep enough water flowing into it. 

“Salt Lake just barely has enough water to kind of support its current population,” said Stafford. “We really need to think about how we’re going to save water.”

According to Stafford, the 2000 Sydney Olympics were designed to demonstrate that the Olympics can be a method for promoting sustainability. He thinks Salt Lake City could do the same. 

“I believe that over the next nine years, we can really make some efforts to solve those problems. That can be the environmental legacy of our games,” said Stafford. 

Related:

• Inversions and pollution: what’s the difference?
• How Utah’s wildfires and winter inversion impact heart health