USU researchers see 2034 Olympics as opportunity for cleaner Utah air

PARK CITY, Utah — Utah State University researchers say the years leading up to Utah’s 2034 Winter Olympics could offer a rare chance to improve air quality statewide and leave a longer-term environmental legacy, with Park City expected to play a major role again.

In a paper published in August in Sustainability and Climate Change, USU researchers Edwin Stafford, Roslynn Brain and Randy Martin identified eight areas Utah could pursue to reduce the risk of poor air quality during the Games while making broader improvements that would last beyond 2034.

Their recommendations include electrifying transportation and buildings, expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure, increasing renewable electricity generation, investing in clean-air education, expanding air-quality monitoring, restoring the Great Salt Lake and increasing green infrastructure.

That connection is particularly relevant for the Wasatch Back. Utah’s proposed 2034 Olympic venue plan includes Utah Olympic Park, Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain, as well as Soldier Hollow in Midway. The Park City-area venues would host a range of events including freestyle skiing, snowboarding, sliding sports, ski jumping and Nordic combined.

“My research has found that the Olympics gives you a political lever with which to get things done,” Stafford, a professor of marketing in USU’s Huntsman School of Business, said in a university release. “That’s what makes the Olympics an innovative opportunity for lasting change and legacy.”

Utah’s geography creates particular winter challenges. Inversions can trap colder air and pollutants near the valley floor, allowing pollution to accumulate until weather conditions change.

Martin, a professor in USU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, compared the phenomenon to a sealed bathtub. While Utah cannot control whether an inversion develops, he said it can reduce the amount of pollution released into that trapped air.

“There’s not much we can do about the actual setup of the inversion or its strength, but we can certainly modify what we put into it,” Martin said.

With that in mind, the researchers argue that the time between now and 2034 offers a window to begin making those changes.

Martin said he would particularly like to see Utah expand air-quality monitoring around Olympic venues well before the Games begin. Establishing monitoring earlier could give researchers a baseline for comparing pollution levels before, during, and after the Olympics and tracking the legacy over time.

The researchers are also focusing on education.

Stafford and Brain, a sustainable communities professor and USU Extension specialist, have led the Utah High School Clean Air Marketing Contest since 2015. The program asks students to design public service campaigns encouraging behaviors such as reducing vehicle idling, combining errands and using alternative transportation. USU says it is adding an Olympic-focused component to connect students’ clean-air messages with the 2034 Games.

Stafford said the timing gives today’s students an unusual connection to the Games. High school students participating now will be adults by 2034, potentially working, volunteering, or otherwise participating in the Olympics when Utah hosts them and carrying that legacy forward.

“The Olympics puts Salt Lake and the Wasatch Front on a global stage that will hopefully motivate people to take some steps that we probably should be taking anyway,” Martin said.

Salt Lake City, Utah, was formally selected by the International Olympic Committee in July 2024 to host the 2034 Winter Games, which are scheduled for Feb. 10-26, 2034.

The USU researchers described their eight recommendations as a starting point, not a finalized roadmap, with legacy in mind.

“Pursuing the air quality opportunities outlined here will demonstrate to the world that Utahns took bold stewardship of their air, not just for the games, but as an Olympic legacy as well,” they wrote.