2° Out West Podcast

Clean air is essential for a healthy quality of life for our region. Breathing in fresh air and enjoying our region’s abundant outdoor natural beauty is what some of us love most about calling the West home. But contrary to the idyllic image that might conjure up, many of the states across the Interior West are home to some of the nation’s worst air quality.  

Although we might often think of carbon dioxide, also known as CO2, when we talk about climate pollution and the need to reduce emissions to tackle climate change, many of the sources that contribute to the climate crisis also produce harmful, even toxic, air pollution that is impacting our communities. The exhaust generated from burning fossil fuels to power our cars, planes, trains, homes, industries, and office buildings all carries with it both a detrimental impact for our climate, and a potentially lethal impact for our communities.  

For the second episode of our Climate Nexus series, we speak with WRA’s Utah-based general counsel and air quality expert Joro Walker, WRA’s Transportation Electrification Policy Analyst Deborah Kapiloff, and WRA’s former Senior Managing Attorney in Nevada Cameron Dyer to explore the connection between the transportation sector and burning fossil fuels, the air we breathe, and our goals to act on climate.