Improving Salt Lake County’s air quality

One of the very first actions taken by Mayor Wilson after being sworn-in as mayor was the creation of the Office of Environmental Services to ensure the improvement of Salt Lake County’s air quality was a top priority for the county government. She has worked to reduce emissions and improve the data Salt Lakers use to make decisions about their breathing health.

Reducing the production of emissions by county vehicles

• The Wilson Administration has replaced aging pollution-generating fleet vehicles with 15 all-electric vehicles and 81 hybrid vehicles so far. Mayor Wilson instituted a hybrid-first policy for the purchasing of new vehicles to reduce emissions.
• Mayor Wilson used grant funds to build 20 new electric-vehicle charging stations around the county for residents to use.

Lowering emissions from county buildings

Salt Lake County continues to move towards zero emissions at its facilities by investing in sustainable upgrades buildings. Additionally, a dashboard has been developed to track emissions from county-owned buildings and its vehicle fleet. 

Leading by example on renewable energy

Mayor Wilson joined the Community Renewable Energy Agency — now called “Utah Renewable Communities” — to bring net-100% renewable electricity to residents of unincorporated areas by 2030 and reduce the need for fossil fuels to be burned to power the region.

Empowering residents with better real-time air-quality data

• The Wilson Administration partnered with UTA and the University of Utah to install air quality monitors on six UTA buses that travel the county’s most vulnerable neighborhoods, transmitting real-time data back to residents and researchers
• As a Council Member, Mayor Wilson was the first to require that new Salt Lake County buildings adhere to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.