I did a lot of thinking over the weekend, while I was camping and hiking, about things I’d like to add to my campaign platform. One idea that came as a result of my hiking experience this weekend is one that I plan to formalize this more for my campaign website:
Ideally, this would not be permitted at all. However, since it is, and until it is finally prohibited in our forests, I will push for Salt Lake County to develop rigid emissions and inspections standards for these vehicles – even more rigid than for other vehicles, thereby setting a precedent for other counties to follow suit.
ATV’s are terrible to our forests. The pollution they emit, the destruction that occurs as a result of their use, and the noise from them make for a less than desirable camping and hiking atmosphere, not to mention the toll it takes on nature.
Another idea that I thought about:
Such growth only results in making the wealthy wealthier and the poor poorer. To that end, our economy should be such that it is sustainable, not a continuous push for “growth”. We must begin first with our population. Reducing our population will create less demand on and our resources. Education is the key to this. (In Utah the sex ed curriculum prohibits the instruction of any type of birth control but abstinence. This must be changed by our state legislators.) Second would be the education and implementation of energy other than the burning of fossil fuels, reducing the exploitation of our resources.
I would advocate for Salt Lake County to promote population control, utiliziation of alternative energy sources, and promotion of sustainable communities.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 