SALT LAKE CITY — The first of seven public hearings to measure the appetite for a seasonal, residential wood-burning ban was attended by close to 200 people in Tooele County clearly fired up over any effort by the state to "regulate" their lives.
The crowd that packed into the Tooele County Health Department on Wednesday afternoon was unanimously, unequivocally and boisterously opposed to proposed rule out for public comment that would ban wood burning in certain areas from Nov. 1 to March 15, beginning this year.
"We are going down a slippery slope if the government does this ban without compromise," said Steve Pohlman. "Why don't they just ban all cars from driving?"
Many residents described areas where they lived in Tooele County in which natural gas is not available and wood is a cheap, renewable way for them to heat their homes.
"Wood is a renewable resource. Why the hell are we banning something that we don't have to pump out of the ground?" questioned Darrell Holden, asserting the "one-size-fits-all" approach does not work.
Chad Allred, who works in the wood stove industry, said Environmental Protection Agency-regulated devices have already reduced emissions by more than 96 percent.
"I would challenge any other industry to say they have reduced emissions by that much," Allred said. "It seems to me that we are shooting a fly with a shotgun. … This is overreach on the part of government."
READ MORE:http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865619592/First-wood-burn-hearing-begins-today-in-Tooele-County.html
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