the case when it began to fight for their camera. the drivers said the octopus didn't pose a threat. thanks for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. appropriately "the stream" is next. >> outside door enthusistics flock to utah to explore the national parks and for the people that call the state home, poor air quality has many asking if the state of the people are are jeopardy. >> as always, producer is here and bringing in all of the

social media throughout the show. the greatest snow on earth for utah and millions of people flock there every year and lots of folks are shocked to find out about the air pollution. >> yes, i am from california we think we have the worse air pollution. >> well, you do. >> but a lot of californians go to utah for the parks and snow boarding and the olympians train there. the second worst air pollution in the nation and this is surprising because of the out door activities and i had no idea it was a problem. i have this picture, check out the beautiful mountains. the blue sky, the same picture with the pollution. that is what they are witnessing right now, and who to blame. we have a suggestion, the

refineri refineries. we have great photos. but who to blame, the industries, the government, pollution, the people, and we have a lot of community feedback on this. >> you name it, it all has a level of the hand in it. >> team u.s.a. is going for gold, there is a battle at home at the training ground and over air pollution. utah some of the worst air quality in the country because the polluted airette gs trapped in the valleys and the government pushed to restrict the wood stoves but it is more about the unregulated industries. so how can utah get a breath of fresh air. we have brice from the department of air quality and matt from heal utah, and garon

and the mandy a professional athlete that lives and trains in utah and started athletes for air. so, matt, we talked that, people think of utah and think of the clear blue skies and crystal clear national parks and the snow, and how serious is the air pollution problem? >> well, it is extremely serious depending on the weather patterns, but we get levels of fine particle pollution, pm 2.5. we have got decades of health research about the affects of the particles, they get into the lungs and cross the blood barriers and they are a serious problem for folks with breathing disorders and babies and the

elderly and could play a role in depression and low birthrates and autism. >> just a handful of days as matt mentioned, what is there to worry about? >> that is a good question, lisa, it is a handful of days and that happen in the winter times and when the handful of days the pollution levels are so high, just like matt talked about, we get symptoms, it is hard to breathe, aggregates people with asthma and it is a serious issue. >> we know enough about health issues that if you have a baby and carrying a baby and you have a terrible day that is shocking the fetus. >> brice, what makes it so bad to begin with? >> it is an inversion and for

those not familiar with that, it is the warm air moving up to the belly floor and the emissions are trapped under the lid and the chemistry changes. >> a community is really talking about the impact on the local utahans. tourist spend their time in the mountains and south utah. it is a huge problem. i know people moving out utah. i have exercised induced asthma and the doctor is telling me it is smog induced. >> i create add twitter box to broadcast whether or not it is safe to be out. nothing more frustrating than having to stay indoors because

of the poor air quality, twitter gives me a way to broadcast the air conditions and picked up by the cyclistcyclists. >> you are an athlete, and talk about the impact it is having on the communities. >> well, there's a huge impact on the communities from athletes to future athletes, especially with the kids, but currently, utah is home to 40% of the winter olympic athletes. as part of the training, we train outdoors. as a professional cycler and seer, i run a lot, i ride my bike a lot and the impact upon the community it is not just preventing us from training, it is prevents us from working together as a community, from training together and

interacting and on the red days and recommended for sensitive groups not to expose themselves those are the days we can't train outside. those days limit our interaction with each other and limit the interaction with the community and limit the ability to train and because of that i know athletes and friends that have left the state or talking about leaving the state and for me, it is become, that is part of the reasons i helped to co-found athletes for clean air, it is part of the reason i look at leaving the state. >> for people that don't have a grasp of this, that is pretty much all of us, talk in the basic terms why these particles are to so damage dangerous, 1/20th the width of a human air. >> yes, they are very, very

small. the particles that we are talking about 2.5 microns smaller. your hair is a hundred microns and much smaller than a human hair when you breathe in the air with the small particles they are lodged down dean in the lung and can get into the bloodstream because of being so small and all sorts of problems occur at that point. >> and quickly, if i can interject, it is true that the particles that is smaller than a human red blood cells and is that correct? >> i wouldn't say smaller than a human blood cell but they are getting into the lungs and the body doesn't have the good defense mechanisms.

it doesn't have the capability to get it out, sneeze it out, it is so deep into the lungs and that causes the problems. >> matt, you know, you are part of an environmental group, it is big draw for tourism, at what point is impacting tour im -- tourism in utah? >> already. it is impacting the economic development. the mountain west is the healthy part of the american economy and the growth is coming from the new businesses that want to site here and expand here and hire here. one of the main reasons to come here is because it is a great place to live. skiing and red rock country and

salt lake city and the cities in the valleys are the places to live and go to school and you find a job and the problem you end up with the weeks you are travelled in a funk and that driving the folks away and affecting our job hiring. we hear regularly from a man that heads up the economic development corporation, jeff edwards and his fear is having a fortune 500 executive and coming here to site up a facility here and he's flying into that funk and so it is having a big impact and we have to take it seriously. >> speaking of a funk, community members have an opinion about who to blame. jake is saying industry is causing it and less pressure is on the industries.

vehicle emissions. we need emissions control and more car pooling. we are all responsible. but the people with the power are the policy makers. >> this is affecting tri and economic development and the politics of policy, even the epa is critical of handling the pollution crisis and why the state senate rejected a bill that maybe could have done something about it. you can interact with our show from your smart phone or tablet. we have an app for that. check this out. >> share your thoughts during the live show, disagree with a guest, great, tell us. get the app content and receive the quizzes and the information. you can be the third co-host. vote, tweet, record and we'll feature them on air. use the app and drive the

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>> welcome back. we are talking about utah and the very high levels of air pollution that in fact rival los angeles. brice, the state legislature failed to pass a bill putting more teeth in the current standards, i understand you are not on the policy ending of this, but why the pushback on this when everyone agrees that the air needs to be improved. >> we have high hopes for other provisions up for discussion. when it comes to the regulations, one, you have a plan to address it, and so you are making improvements and the best time to do that is actually in the past and we have a long history of addressing the air pollution in this area. on that note, one comparison that is invalid is comparing us to beijing, our worst days are

about the same as their ample days so really, you know, hundreds of days difference and with our particular problem here, of course, los angeles violates the standards 105 days a year and we are talking here about 18 days a year. it is a particular problem. the rest of the year we have good air quality and we are doing very well and again as mentioned the rest of the state is beautiful and certainly isn't impacted by this inversion urban situation. >> so the epa is taking some significant concern though with utah. in part of a statement to us they said quote this is a serious and complex problem and requiring aggressive steps... so i took a look at that letter, it was addressed to you, it is a

64 page letter from the epa and what are some of the concerns? >> this is in response to an 1800 page plan we provided to them. they are technical coming to strategies that have implemented. they are in agreement with those and helped us to drop those. again, we expected some comments back, we are addressing those as revisions to the plan and part of a normal plan with the interaction with the epa. >> amanda, is utah dragging its feet on addressing the issue? >> i think so. going back to a few days a year versus hundreds of days a year, it is actually not actually a correct statement, i don't believe it is a correct statement to say the rest of the year that the air is great. it is not. the high levels of o sooen in

the summer -- ozone. it is a problem. while i may not be hacking up the contents of the cold weather inversion, i'm suffering, i have cluster migraines that we are experiencing in the valley because of the high levels of ozone. it is not fair to place blame on any one industry and a lot of people are looking to place to blame, but we have to look for the solutions to the unique problems that are presented here in utah. >> amanda, here is a solution, tightening up the solutions at the state level. actism is keeping it in the topics. utah adds industry but lags on

public transit and one more, corporations must be held accountable and utah has to set a precedent. should utah tighten up with regulations and is industry made into a scapegoat? >> i think scapegoat is too strong a word. the truth is that significant improvement requires sacrifices from the folks driving cars and paying more for gas and people who own the homes and making them more efficient and refineries and copper mines and putting in the technologies. >> i agree. >> the office is doing a fairly good job but building the 21st century utah and we are all living in this valley ring by the mountains and we need a bold vision and coming from the very

top, the governor and the legislative leaders and the folks from the highest levels and we have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into a much better network to feed to the light rail that we have and we need to think very carefully about the zoning and the plans stuff. or do we want to build it into an amazing city. the staff is good as their jobs, but we need big money and a vision from the very top to remake utah. >> matt is right. he mentioned the word invest, this is an investment in our future and utah's future and sustainable and profitable future economics, that's what it is. it is an investment and we need to look at that as investing in

utah. >> how is that getting the traction in the utah legislature, they passed a law that says the state of utah cannot have its environmental standards exceed what the federal minimum is and contrary to what other states in the country, it seems a feeling within the legislature that they don't want to go any fur that are than they have to on environmental quality for the state. >> that is one of the many challenges that we have and the answer and the solution has been uprising and that is community outreach, community focussed efficient rt to -- efficieorts we have seen one or two air quality related bills in the legislature and this year we are over 20. that is a reflection of the interest and the focus on the grass roots efficieorts to brine

attention to where it should be. >> community here, individuals can make a difference via telework and no burning, car pooling. >> coming up, what's at stake if the air stays duty. we are weighing in on the long term consequences after the break.

al jazeera america. . >> hello utah. >> we have an air quality >> we have an air quality problem here. what are you going to do today to help the air quality. >> welcome back. utah has some of the worst air

quality in the country and tourists go there to enjoy the out door recreation. we talked about the effects on the vulnerable groups and it is not as severe as though coming and going from the state, like the tourists, what is the state doing about the long term health consequences? >> there have been some of the studies done, in fact, some of my colleagues here, they don't necessarily look at the air air in utah by the combination of air, but there's always new research coming to light, new conclusions that are reached about the health effects of living in poorly polluted air. >> bryce, you have deadlines you have to meet coming up here in the next five years, talk about the likelihood of that. >> again, we have had a lons

history of developing plans that meet the standards. epa's process is making the standards more protective over time and we are very confident that reduction strategies that are in place and while costly are effective but that is not the end, we have to focus on all of the sectors the reduce emissions and growth is a big issue for us and determining the growth for the future. >> bryce, if you had to a focus on one thing in terms of being a major polluter, what would you put your finger on? >> transportation emissions are the largest source and hard to get the people out of their vehicles, we have to do a better job with public transportation or providing options for working and education. >> the community is tweeting in about possible suggestions, flynn is doubting, less

regulations, just kidding. make sure that the laws are followed. one doctor said she wouldn't recommend living in utah if you have lung problems. i heard of health problems worsened or initiated and many are considering moving. i won't expose my family to long term consequences. amanda, i don't want to end this on this note, don't make it a smog terrible. become an activist and make proactive solutions to make sure a the air is better in 2019. >> so many things to do. that is a big part of the campaign, personal responsibility where from calling the legislators, call the people you elected to do their jobs to turning down the heat in your home and driving

less and car pooling, not idling at the school, not taking one person in a car up to canyon to see on the weekends, not burning wood. so many things we can all do on a daily basis to improve this. taking public transit. turning down the heat. i mean, encouraging your friends and family. often times the point of contact makes a huge difference if you say something. >> matt, amanda mentioned public transportation, that is something that has to be funded via tax dollars and the will, the political will to do that in utah? >> it is really the $6 million question, where we have to reconcile the conflict between utah's business friendly state, that is something that the leaders are proud of and a place which is colliding with the realities of a valley ringed by the mountains and the big

question for utah is what kind of future are we going to build, going to build a jewel in the mountains that attracts people that want to live in this beautiful place and with a businesses or going to sort of slide down the hill towards to the urban valleys and you know, it's a really tough question to answer well. we have a governor that is taking on this issue in a serious way and we have dedicated professionals looking a that. we are headed in the right direction and we have to make the decisions. >> from a science perspective, what do you want to see happen? >> the emission from the cars,

we are aware of where the sources are coming from but the biggest pieces to try the cars off the roads and we need a better more robust transit city and that sakes personal sacrifices, you have to take the bus to get to work and individual sacrifices from people. >> amanda, what is success for you in utah? >> success for utah it needs to be the state of sport. we need enforce regulations on everyone, not just the citizens or small businesses, everyone. >> thanks to all of the guests. until next time, see you onlinal al jazeera.com/the stream. see you tomorrow. aljazeera.com/ajmstream. see you tomorrow.

>> welcome to the al jazeera news hour. from our broadcast centers in doha and london. our top stories. europe call for sanctions against ukraine after 26 people die in anti-government protest. two explosions tear through a hezbollah stronghold in beirut killing 27 people and hundreds others are injured. >> we're in london with more news from europe. including