Please join us on Zoom (link available via email) from 7-7:40pm MT every other Wednesday night: W Jan 25, W Feb 8 etc. All are welcome! We’ll talk about the Four P’s—Policy, Plan, Purchasing Power, and People—as we prepare to qualify for the Nov 2024 ballot by collecting signatures from F Feb 17 to W Nov 22, 2023. (Mark your calendars, and follow the previous link if you’re new to the campaign and want to get caught up.)

Policy: You can read all about the policy on our website, but here’s a one-sentence summary: Our proposal puts $100m a year into local air quality programs and $50m a year into rural economies, eliminates the state sales tax on grocery store food and expands the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit match for low-income working families, and pays for it all with a modest carbon tax on the fossil fuels that are the main source of both local air pollution and global climate change.

Plan: We filed our ballot measure on Jan 10, we’re now waiting for a fiscal note (expected on Feb 8), then we have to hold public hearings around the state (scheduled for Feb 10-12 in Logan, SLC, Provo, Duchesne, Price, Nephi, and St George), and then if all goes as planned we can begin gathering signatures on F Feb 17 at NBA All-Star Weekend in SLC! The Guide to Gathering Signatures on our website has links to the monthly roadmap, event calendars around the state, and a 2-pager with instructions for signature gatherers. Feedback on any or all of this is welcome, and on the W evening Zoom call we will discuss NBA All-Star Weekend and other early opportunities for signature-gathering.

Purchasing power: We only need to meet a (fairly modest) $5k budget to start signature-gathering, and we’re getting there. Please donate if you can!

People: Call for district leaders! We are searching for volunteers to serve as district leaders for the campaign. District leaders will help organize teams of signature-gathering volunteers in individual senate districts across Utah. To qualify for the ballot we need to hit a statewide target (about 150,000 valid signatures) as well as targets of about 5,000 valid signatures in 26 of the 29 state senate districts. This is an opportunity to play a leadership role in the campaign and to take action against air pollution and climate change. Now is the time to join our team! If you are interested in learning more, please contact Dave Carrier at dave@DarnAir.org or 385-227-7235.

Presentations: I’ll be doing a short presentation on the campaign in St George on M Feb 5 at a luncheon of the St George AAUW (American Association of University Women). Register here (for $25) if you’re interested in joining. And, on a personal/comedic note rather than a campaign note, T Jan 24 in SLC I’ll be doing a very short “stand-up economist” set at Wiseguys as an opening act for Annie Rauwerda, the “@depthsofwikipedia” comedian featured last year in the NYT! Tickets to that are also $25 (and may sell out :).

In the news: London Kelley and I were on Fox13 News talking about the campaign. And Jan recommends this Tribune article about less-pollution Tier 3 fuels.