Did you receive a ballot for the Democratic primary in Utah’s First Congressional District? City Cast Salt Lake sent a survey to all four candidates, so you can compare where they stand on the issues shaping Salt Lake right now. Here’s their take on the environment.
Answers are fact checked, but are unedited, and candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Utah had the worst snowpack on record this past winter, and the Great Salt Lake has already reached its maximum elevation for the year. President Donald Trump has pitched $1 billion to save the lake. What specific solutions would you support funding with that line item?
- Blouin: "The Great Salt Lake is a public health emergency. As it shrinks, arsenic and heavy metals from the lakebed blow into the air along the Wasatch Front. One billion is a start, but saving this lake will take $1 billion+ a year. I'd direct that funding toward securing federal water leases, mandating minimum lake levels, and regulating Big Ag's water use, which accounts for the vast majority of consumption in the basin. The lake won't be saved by half-measures."
- Farrell: "Federal funding should prioritize funneling more water into the Great Salt Lake through coordination with neighboring states, restrictions on large agricultural water use (such as alfalfa farms), incentives for Utahns to convert their lawns to a xeriscape or zeroscape, watershed restoration, wetland protection, water reuse infrastructure, and dust mitigation to protect Utahns from toxic air caused by declining GSL levels. We also need a total ban on data centers being built anywhere in Utah."
- McAdams: "I’d eradicate thirsty phragmites and other invasive plants that are overgrown on the banks of the Jordan River. This would get more water to the lake and also make the Jordan River corridor safer and more recreation friendly. That would be about 10% of the solution. We won’t save the Lake unless we also address agricultural uses. Funding can pay for agricultural water diversion, conservation, metering, and water shepherding so conserved water reaches the lake instead of being reused upstream."
- Mohamed: "Saving the Great Salt Lake is such a public health and national security threat to our lives, communities, and so many of our biomes, that I have made the promise to make an appropriation for efforts in this regard the first thing I do when I get to Congress. The following policies are some in my plan to save the Great Salt Lake: Minimum enforceable lake levels, Federal ecosystem restoration on-going funding, Interstate water conservation coordination, Wetlands restoration, Broader water law reform."
Gov. Spencer Cox wants to double the state's energy production in the next 10 years. What energy sources should we prioritize and why?
- Blouin: "We can't double energy production by doubling down on the fuels of the past. Utah sits on some of the best geothermal resources in the country, and with serious federal investment we can become the world leader in it. We should keep scaling wind, solar, and storage, modernize our grid, and make sure big industrial users pay their fair share instead of passing costs onto your utility bill. Clean energy is cheaper, better for the environment, and made right here."
- Farrell: "Geothermal, wind, and solar. Utah has world-class geothermal resources that we have barely tapped, and Utah’s ability to tap into sun and wind resources is nearly unmatched. These energy sources are faster to deploy than dirty energy, cheaper per megawatt-hour, and don’t require decade-long buildouts or unsolved waste problems. Congress should pass the Green New Deal, and America can lead the way in clean energy for at least the next 50 years. Instead we're currently letting China eat our lunch."
- McAdams: "I don’t accept the premise that Utah should double energy production at any cost. We should grow only as fast as we can do it sustainably — protecting the Great Salt Lake, improving air quality, conserving water, and preserving the public lands and outdoor way of life that make Utah special. As we grow, we should prioritize clean sources like solar, geothermal, storage, and efficiency that lower costs and create jobs without leaving our kids the bill."
- Mohamed: "We need to prioritize green renewable energy, point blank and end of discussion. Both solar and wind farms should be at the front. It is an ambitious project, but we need to dare to once again lead. We have the will and the funds to make this transition, we just need the political power. We will need an increase in energy production to meet our daily needs in our near future. There is no reason to compromise our health, environment, or the prosperity of the younger generations to get there."
Salt Lake had the worst air quality in the country this January. Utah's air has improved over the past hundred years, but Salt Lakers still suffer on bad air days. What congressional levers would you pull to clean up District 1's air?
- Blouin: "Salt Lakers, especially on the Westside, are losing years off their lives due to health complications from our horrible air quality. I'll fight for federal investment in clean energy like geothermal, wind, and solar to retire coal and natural gas plants, secure permanent water flows to the Great Salt Lake so toxic dust stops blowing off the lakebed, expand public transit to cut tailpipe emissions, and strengthen the Clean Air Act and provide agencies with the resources to actually enforce it."
- Farrell: "First, fully fund the EPA and tighten national air-quality standards, and stop Trump from gutting them. Second, redirect federal transportation dollars to electrify TRAX and FrontRunner, expand bus service, and reduce single-occupancy commuting. Third, require federal permitting at the Inland Port to actually account for cumulative air pollution and the lakebed dust crisis. Salt Lakers shouldn’t have to choose between living here and breathing safely."
- McAdams: "I’d pull every federal lever to clean our air: EPA enforcement, replacing dirty diesel buses and trucks, electric vehicle incentives, transit, safe bike lanes, incentives to electrify homes and buildings and accelerate our transition to clean energy instead of fossil fuels. I’d also support housing near transit and walkable neighborhoods so people can drive less. Most importantly, I’ll fight to save the Great Salt Lake, because toxic dust from the exposed lakebed is an air quality crisis."
- Mohamed: "Investing in clean renewable energy is my number one priority on this end. We must do what we can to reduce the number of admissions that we emit to the ozone. We also need to address the toxic dust that is making it to our lungs as the Great Salt Lake slowly dries up. As outlined above, I have a plan to save the Great Salt Lake but we are already getting a taste of it. I would also like to re-incentize electric vehicles but doing so in a way that we can increase our choices as consumers."
Want to dig even deeper? Follow these links to read more responses from the candidates:
