Environmental & smart-growth LeaderShip |
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Robert DeBirk’s Utah Environmentalist Oral History Project, where he interviewed Rocky about the roots of his committed environmentalism and his views and leadership on climate protection, wilderness conservation, clean energy, urban planning, sprawl development, highways and mass transit, and air quality.
"Mayor Anderson says, '. . . We are thrilled that our leadership, particularly in combating global climate change, was acknowledged. . . This work is about better public health, a better quality of life, and a more sustainable future for all.' "
"Many cities are also encouraging . . . hybrids and other high-efficiency vehicles by offering a variety of incentives. In Salt Lake City, says Mayor Rocky Anderson, 'the transportation department will put a decal in your rear window, and you can park at any city meters without ever having to pay.' "
"Throughout the world, human beings are already suffering, or will soon be suffering, from the results of human-caused climate chaos." Read this article about the need to view the climate crisis as a major human rights issue: Rocky Anderson and Patrick Thronson, 'Achieving Climate Protection: Fostering an Essential Focus on Human Rights and Human Impacts,' The Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy
Rocky calls upon young people at Power Shift conference to become power-shifting bulldogs demanding climate protection.
"Today we face the greatest threat ever in human history to the inhabitants of Earth. The spread of misinformation, the refusal to act in the face of overwhelming proof of a climate crisis, and the profiteering in the short-term at the expense of global catastrophe during the lives of our children and grandchildren, equates to an historic moral abdication leading to human tragedies and species extinctions of unprecedented scope." - Rocky Anderson
"Since his election in 1999, he’s implemented a comprehensive plan to green the city and meet Kyoto emissions targets (actually, SLC has already far exceeded the targets, six years ahead of schedule). He’s pushed the development of bus and light-rail public transit, zoned for dense, multi-use development, created miles of new bike paths, and vastly improved pedestrian and bike safety."
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Local eNVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
SMART GROWTH DEVELOPMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
CLEAN AIR
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"There is nothing more important to our quality of life than the quality of air we breathe."
"Introduced January 5, 2011, the 'Free Industry Act' would amend the Clean Air Act to exclude greenhouse gases from being subject to the Act. This amendment would strip the EPA of its power to regulate greenhouse gases, which would be a huge set-back for addressing the climate crisis."
Rocky urges grass-roots advocacy to stop Congress from eliminating EPA’s power to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases. "Salt Lake City was selected as just one of 13 cities in the United States to receive the grant, which goes hand in hand with Solar Salt Lake, a project intended to scatter solar panels throughout the valley. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson says, 'You don't find people dying mining solar power. You don't see local health consequences. You're not factoring those into your cost.' "
"The mayor said Monday he has urged Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake County Mayor-elect Peter Corroon and University of Utah President Michael Young to join his efforts to not only prevent global warming, but improve air quality. It was a point Anderson hammered home Monday as he ate breakfast with Young at The Point restaurant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, high on Salt Lake City's east bench. Instead of breathtaking views as promised by the restaurant's Web site, the two men got an eyeful of smog."
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"The World Leadership Award was presented to Anderson, on behalf of Salt Lake City. . .for his environmental program, Salt Lake City Green, which incorporates initiatives on alternative transportation, zero-waste, recycling, climate protection, e2 business promotion, high performance buildings, open space, urban forest and smart growth."
"Air quality is Salt Lake City's biggest problem, former Mayor Rocky Anderson said at Kennecott's refinery, which was churning out 300-pound plates of pure copper. 'It takes industry to act,' said Anderson, who applauded Kennecott's parent company, Rio Tinto, for acknowledging climate change and taking steps to reduce greenhouse gases. 'I don't think they've gotten anywhere near the credit they deserve,' Anderson said."
"Kennecott Copper announced a new plan, that will dramatically lower the company's air pollution. Because Kennecott is such a large company, the change may have a noticeable impact on overall air quality in the Salt Lake Valley. Former Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson — current executive director of High Road for Human Rights — praised Kennecott and its parent company Rio Tinto for taking seriously the severe threat to the climate from greenhouse gases."
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"Rocky Anderson stated, 'In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.' - From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy"
" 'On beautiful, smog-free days, Salt Lake City is stunning,' Anderson said. Better air quality does more than create a more scenic environment; it improves public health. Mayor Anderson said more than 1 million people die every year from problems caused by air pollution."
"The 12 states attempting to implement the standard under the Clean Cars Program collectively represent 40 percent of the United States automobile market. The EPA should allow these states to improve sustainability, air quality and reduce global warming pollution within their borders, which will have a salutary effect on fuel efficiency standards nationwide and help our nation meet the tremendous challenges posed by global warming. - Rocky Anderson
"Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City Mayor: "I'll never understand the idea especially of having gas guzzling vehicles and having taxpayers pay to fuel them. That is just beyond me."
"Salt Lake City is now offering free metered parking to Utahns whose vehicles get 50 miles per gallon, have low emissions or are powered by an alternative fuel that could reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil. Utah already offers an income tax credit of up to $3,000 for residents who buy clean fuel vehicles and some electric hybrids. It also allows those vehicles to use high occupancy vehicle lanes at any time. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said providing free parking would further encourage use of those vehicles. 'It's yet another piece of the puzzle,' Anderson said."
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INLAND PORT & Northpoint
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"Rocky Anderson is not afraid to point out how this move was highly illegal and he is in support of Mayor Jackie Biskupski's move to file a lawsuit against the state. Anderson very clearly points out that this is just one of many times that the state is enacting policies driven by special interests and our corrupt Utah State Legislature."
After then-Council Member Erin Mendenhall voted to prevent then-Mayor Biskupski from suing to stop the Inland Port and worked out a deal with the Utah Legislature, Rocky blasts the Inland Port and the process that created it. Richard Markosian at Utah Stories said: "Rocky Anderson . . . is one of the rare political leaders in Utah that has not been bought off by special interests. . . . Rocky Anderson, according to all the business owners I’ve spoken to, was certainly a champion of small business and the people." "A petition calling on the city to deny any plans that would turn the area into an industrial zone has more than 1,200 signatures from Utahns across the state, mostly in Salt Lake County. Former Salt Lake City Mayors Rocky Anderson and Jackie Biskupski are among the signees, according to a copy of the petition reviewed by The Salt Lake Tribune."
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"Rocky Anderson was the former Mayor of Salt Lake City, and one of the rare politicians who wasn’t bought off by special interests. Anderson believes that the lawsuit filed by Mayor Biskupski against the 'Inland Port Authority' was late, but still the right move. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the proposal and the non-elected committee."
"After fighting off 'megamall,' he had other dreams for the northwest quadrant. Now, he says, if he 'didn’t live here, I’d never move to Salt Lake City' now due to its poor air. Years ago, when Rocky Anderson was Salt Lake City’s mayor, he had a vision for the northwest quadrant. He had nixed a planned 'Grand Salt Lake' megamall for the area shortly after taking office in 2000, decrying it as a magnet for more traffic and pollution."
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LEGACY HIGHWAY
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"The matter took a major legal turn in January 2001 when Utahns for Better Transportation, Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City, and the Sierra Club sued to challenge the issued FHWA and COE permits ('Legacy Parkway')."
"Environmental groups and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson have long denounced the road. They argue that it would not only destroy wetlands, but would perpetuate sprawl and further degrade the Front's already murky air."
"This appeal arises from the district court's order denying the Appellants' request that the Records of Decision issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (collectively the “Agencies”) concerning the Legacy Parkway project be vacated and that the Legacy Parkway Final Environmental Impact Statement be remanded for further agency action."
"It is quite ironic how Rep. Mia Love wants people to believe in a lie when it comes to Legacy Highway by blaming "Doug Owens, Rocky Anderson and radical environmentalists" for delays. The facts are that costs were caused by the Republican governor and Republican state legislators, who gave UDOT authority to grant the contract with contractual obligations that resulted in paying contractors for work not performed."
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"The Legacy Highway will hurt everyone, the mayor told the Bonneville Kiwanis Club in a lunchtime speech Wednesday. Two weeks ago he joined Utahns for Better Transportation in its lawsuit to stop construction of the road, which would connect commuters between Davis and Salt Lake County."
"To Marc Heileson, a regional representative of the Sierra Club, one of the plaintiffs in the suit filed in 2001, the agreement signals not just that years of contention may come to an end, but that Utah transportation is entering a new era. Building a parkway instead of a freeway 'is a whole different mind-set.' "
"He's questioned many of Utah's bedrock beliefs: Traditional marriage. Alcohol laws. Gun rights. But nothing since the Main Street Plaza has created Rocky Rage like his attack on our automobiles. The uproar arose after Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's State of the City speech last month when he criticized commuting by automobile and the proposed Legacy Highway for harming his constituents' - and others' - health and environment."
"'There are direct adverse impacts of this on Salt Lake City as a result of Legacy Highway with increased cars and increased pollution.' Anderson said Legacy proponents are engaging in a reckless plan that compromises precious wetlands and ignores the sensibilities of mass transit."
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"But two weeks after the construction began, costs rose to $451 million, said Josh Ewing, Mayor Rocky Anderson's press secretary. 'We feel it jumped because they were hiding costs to make that the sweet route, the route to go on,' he said. Legacy was designed to relieve traffic congestion in Salt Lake City, but new highways congest roads because more people are encouraged to drive, he said."
"Immediately thereafter, a lawsuit was initiated by the Utahns for Better Transportation, Mayor Rocky Anderson, and the Sierra Club. In August 2001, The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction that halted construction. Construction remained stymied for over four years until a settlement was announced in July 2005..."
“What was really astounding, and still is, is that Governor Leavitt, in the midst of that litigation... gave the go-ahead to the contractor to start work on the Legacy Highway, committing the state, even if the highway construction were stopped by the courts, committing the state to continue paying the contractor. I believe it was some two hundred million dollars that the state of Utah had to pay the contractor even though no work was being done after the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals entered an order stopping construction."
"The Denver-based court found that the Army Corps of Engineers failed to adequately consider the harm the highway would have on wildlife when it issued a permit for the highway construction.
After reviewing the environmental impact statement, the court said "the indirect impact on wetlands analysis is not adequate to the point of being arbitrary and capricious." The court also found a failure to consider mass transit, failure to seriously consider alternative routes, and failure to consider a narrower median, the ruling said." |
Opposition to nuclear waste
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"Storage at Yucca Mountain likely means storage at Skull Valley and transportation of waste through our communities every single day for 38 years." - Rocky Anderson
"Anderson also adamantly opposes the storage of nuclear waste in Utah, and hopes the community will rally against it."
"The mayor, who for the past year has decried transport of nuclear waste through the Salt Lake Valley, will give a litany of reasons for his opposition: The risks are too great for Salt Lake City and other communities along the route to bear, the transport may cause property values and the city's attractiveness to plummet, and Utah should not be considered the nation's waste dump."
"Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and others who think transporting the waste on Utah’s rail lines could lead to a catastrophe. They’re joined by California, which argues that such a disaster could shut down Interstate 80 and hurt the state’s exports."
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"I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the wholly inadequate proposal to transport deadly nuclear waste across country for storage at Yucca Mountain and the short-sighted national nuclear policy that has led to that proposal." -Rocky Anderson
" 'We will not be the radioactive dumping ground of this country any longer,' Anderson said."
"Goodman, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin said the federal government had not done enough to study the risks posed by shipping nuclear waste to the proposed site by highway or rail. The federal plan would bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste in tunnels inside Yucca Mountain, where it would remain radioactive for more than 10,000 years."
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"Anderson cited health and financial risks, the unwillingness of Eastern utilities to pay for handling of their own waste products, and an exploitation of the poverty-stricken Goshutes, among other reasons for his opposition."
"Keep out of Utah and Nevada and quit lying to us, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson told the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning."
"Some of the state's top religious, business and community leaders have come out in opposition to Utah receiving higher levels of nuclear waste...With such notable members as Jon M. Huntsman, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Spencer F. Eccles, Catholic Bishop George Niederauer, Episcopal Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish and other civic and religious leaders, the vote on the stand was unanimous."
" 'My greatest hope is that we don't all stand around like a bunch of sheep waiting for the slaughter," [Anderson] said...'but that we rise up and let our elected federal officials know that we are very displeased with this.' "
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