This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I was one of 200 protesters standing in the smog outside of the governor's Energy Development Summit, asking Gov. Gary Herbert to promote clean energy, clean air, greenhouse-gas reduction and to protect Utah's public lands, instead of catering to the fossil fuel industry.
While a speaker from Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment was telling us that the air we were breathing was as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes, my new member of Congress, Rep. Chris Stewart, was inside with my old representative, Rob Bishop, and Sen. Mike Lee, railing against federal environmental regulations that protect clean air.
Later, The Trib quoted Cody Stewart, Herbert's energy adviser and tar sands czar (who just happens to be Rep. Stewart's nephew) boasting: "It will actually be helpful to have another friend in the delegation to work with."
It looks like Stewart is yet another partisan insider, loyal to the oil and gas industry. After reading his campaign literature, I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed that right out of the gate he's not even making a pretense of representing the public's interest.
Amy Brunvand
Salt Lake City