Sure, in March Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed two bills that would have killed restrictions to pump groundwater in Cochise and Yuma counties (The Arizona Republic reported at the time that if the bills would have become law, it would have enabled at housing developments to move forward without proving long-term water availability). Still, this year was a shitty one for the state Legislature in terms of protecting the environment and natural resources in Arizona, according to the Sierra Club’s 2016 Environmental Report Card.
The Sierra Club gave Ducey a D+ for his lousy environmental advocacy. He was “graded” on 12 bills—there’s one he signed that will limit a city’s power to require energy benchmarking and another that prohibits cities from limiting the use of plastic bags. Also, he signed a bill to divert funding from habitat protection, and one that makes it harder for homeowners to install rooftop solar panels.
“The Arizona Legislature is determined to allow harm to what makes Arizona special – unique and threatened rivers such as the San Pedro, endangered Mexican gray wolves, public lands around Grand Canyon,” said Sandy Bahr, Chapter Director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “Rather than taking advantage of our 300-plus days of sunshine and growing solar industry and the jobs its provides, legislators passed a bill to hinder installations and even considered proposed constitutional amendments that would have likely destroyed the rooftop solar industry in Arizona.”
“While our state faces more and more challenges relative to climate change, water quality and quantity, air quality, protection of wildlife and its habitat, transition to clean energy, and continued environmental inequity, the Arizona Legislature consistently seeks to take us backward by weakening state laws, limiting local government’s ability to protect resources, and objecting to and challenging important federal protections.”
In the state Legislature, all but one Republican in the Senate and two in the House got failing grades. Five representatives received an A+, meaning they voted 100 percent pro-environment: from the Tucson area, Democratic Reps. Randall Friese, Matt Kopec and Stefanie Mach. Also, Reps. Debbie McCune Davis and Eric Meyer, both Democrats from the Phoenix area.
Davis was given special recognition as “Environmental Superstar Representative” for consistently voting in support of environmental protection. Davis is leaving the state Legislature at the end of the year.
This article appears in May 19-25, 2016.
Couldn’t be a better badge of honor for anyone who stands against the radical environmentalists, aka communists, that have made Tucson the 5th poorest city in the country.
And DAMN proud of it.
It is not radical to try as hard as you can try and prevent the force of american capitalism from consuming every last drop of water, every last tree, every last unspoiled swath of wilderness we have left. While not done with malice, this is what it does – consume resources and generate waste (the cost of which is never accounted for in economic calculus when a new job creating enterprise is evaluated). Arizona, especially SE Arizona, is as beautiful a place as I have ever seen, and if not for conservation groups, it would all look like Sahaurita or Marana. It is vital habitat for thousands of plants and animals that do not occur elsewhere, or depend on the land and water here as they move through.
Without these conservation organizations, there would be literally no one to attempt to protect what is truly God’s creation (however you interpret God) – we didn’t build it, and yet we destroy it so casually.
So thanks gov Ducey’s at least for vetoing the groundwater pumping bill.
I am also troubled by the spate of bills in AZ and elsewhere attempting to limit local jurisdictions from actually governing themselves. The irony is so thick when you think about the conservative uproar at the states having to follow federal laws and regulations.
Cry me river. We need the water. Thank you Governor. Keep them angry.
Ha! “We need the water.” You really don’t get it, do ya Larry?
“In the state Legislature, all but one Republican in the Senate and two in the House got failing grades. Five representatives received an A+, meaning they voted 100 percent pro-environment: from the Tucson area, Democratic Reps. Randall Friese, Matt Kopec and Stefanie Mach. Also, Reps. Debbie McCune Davis and Eric Meyer, both Democrats from the Phoenix area.”
Nothing new here. The Democratic Party has ALIGNED itself with the beliefs of the Sierra Club, which has become a group driven by radical environmentalism.
Here is their video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC1l4geSTP8
A youtube link? Really? All kidding aside, you humps need to up your game.
I must admit that in the past I avoided watching any television news featuring our (wince) governor, but recently I have watched him “answer” questions by Arizona television media and had an epiphany — someone else is providing the input for this meat puppet, not unlike the not-so-invisible job that Dick Cheney did with W. Aside from hitting his talking points (repeating them over and over in answer to entirely different questions), he doesn’t appear to have a fully functioning personality beyond that goofy smile and Pollyanna attitude capped off with generalized positive-sounding comments that absolutely do not correspond to the Machiavellian actions coming out of his office. Does anyone have any idea who is providing the words to this vapid empty suit?
Douchey. Making Arizona Shitty Again.