Tim Steller’s column: New utility regulators fight ‘tree socialism
The commissioners were drilling deep into UniSource Energy Service‘s efficiency efforts Thursday when they struck a favorite: The tree giveaway program. Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers, who was elected in November, questioned the utility representative’s assertion that the company checks on where customers plant their trees.
Our climate crisis looks bleak on social media, but there’s hope in the IRA
As a recent sustainability graduate of Arizona State University, I’m excited to join the workforce and dedicate myself to protecting and maintaining the health of our state’s landscapes and people. At 22 years old, the prospect of having my whole life ahead of me should fill me with hope. But as a climate justice organizer […]
Arizona rancher switches to solar energy thanks to federal funding
Agriculture brings in billions of dollars for our state each year. It also emits a lot of gasses that contribute to climate change. Date Creek rancher Savannah Figueroa is using federal dollars to reduce her carbon footprint while growing her business. She provides meat to communities across the High Country. She and her husband take […]
Campaign aims to reduce air pollution, respiratory illnesses in Arizona communities of color
When Karen Hernández was a child, she always wondered there weren’t as many trees around her neighborhood. She grew up in south Phoenix, a predominantly Black and Latino area. “If we wanted to catch the shade of a tree we had to walk about a mile,” Hernandez, now 25, told The Arizona Republic.
$10 billion or more headed to Arizona in clean energy spending
In Tucson, the federal payout for buying new low-and-zero-emission buses and for conserving Colorado River water over the next few years approaches $100 million. A new battery factory south of Tucson International Airport is slated to reap more than $1 billion in private investment by the time it goes online in 2025 or 2026.
One year after passage, conservationists, builders celebrate Inflation Reduction Act
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act a year ago this week to help promote clean energy and reduce the impacts of climate change. The law sets aside funds for infrastructure and green energy projects across the country, and $4 billion in Arizona. The act has had positive effects for Arizona residents.
Tucson Climate Leaders celebrate the Inflation Reduction Act’s first anniversary
Today, Arizona State Senator Rosanna Gabaldon joined climate advocates to celebrate the first anniversary of the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act is a large legislative package that is aimed at fighting inflation, lowering deficit, reducing the price of prescription drugs for seniors, and reducing the country’s carbon emissions. Speakers highlighted how the […]
Climate Organizer Shares How Inflation Reduction Act Addresses Environmental Justice
Although lower-income communities face higher energy burdens, they are also disproportionately harmed by climate change. For Arizona native and community organizer Yara Marin, the Inflation Reduction Act represents a historic opportunity to advance energy equity while addressing climate concerns. Access to clean energy technology is often inaccessible for working-class American families. The Inflation Reduction Act acknowledges this inequity […]
Biden points to Arizona’s extreme heat, majestic Grand Canyon as he promotes climate-focused 2022 law
If the majesty of the Arizona’s Grand Canyon isn’t enough to spark action on the environment, the region’s record-setting extreme heat and the viability of a key water source should move more Americans to take climate change seriously, and fast, President Joe Biden said Tuesday. Biden is holding events in Arizona and New Mexico this […]
Arizona opinion: Our state’s entirely avoidable energy crisis
A study published in late May projected that if Arizona’s electric grid fails during a summer heat wave (like the one we are in right now), it could lead to more than 12,000 deaths and send nearly 800,000 Phoenix residents to the hospital for heat-related illness. And that’s just within the City of Phoenix, not […]
