In Arizona, the climate crisis has become a real and growing threat to our lives and livelihoods. Prolonged drought is creating a ripple effect of uncertainty, massive wildfires are devastating local economies, and heat-related illnesses and deaths are on the rise as triple-digit temperatures skyrocket. This week, U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema has a historic chance to change the course of this crisis. The constituents in my Latino-majority district are counting on her support of the Build Back Better Act.
The choice is crystal clear. While Governor Doug Ducey and his Republican-led legislature refuse to acknowledge reality and science, it’s up to Congress and Senator Sinema to adopt a once-in-a-lifetime plan that will create jobs and invest in a clean energy economy that protects Arizona’s air, land, and water for generations to come. Refusing to act harms us all, but it especially hurts Latinos who are disproportionately affected by climate change.
The lack of equitable access to affordable cooling has increased emergency room visits among Latinos, many of whom work outdoors—and we’ve lost hundreds of lives over the last decade due to Arizona’s extreme heat. Dirty air created by fossil-fuel polluters in our state has led to record asthma cases among Latino children. And the Colorado River Basin, responsible for 36% of Arizona’s water supply and now faced with historic water cuts due to drought, encompasses a whopping one-third of the Nation’s entire Latino population.
We can no longer sit idle. Inaction will jeopardize lives and economies, and it will hurt our black, indigenous, and people of color most. If we are truly committed to moving Arizona forward, we cannot keep going down the same path of climate and social justice apathy. It’s why Senator Sinema’s support of the Build Back Better Act is crucial.
When approved, the legislation will dramatically improve lives and economies in Arizona, tackling the extreme weather that endangers our loved ones on a daily basis. It will create 100,000 jobs annually in the state for the next decade and boost household income $3,300 a year.
This matters to our Latino families and businesses because we were hardest hit by COVID-19. With an estimated 25 percent of Latino-owned businesses permanently closed over the course of 2020, our economic recovery as Latinos has been comparatively slow. The continuous impacts of climate change only make matters worse.
Latinos in Arizona are resourceful and resilient. Experience has taught us to persevere, even when faced with systemic injustice and economic inequalities; however, we are simply tired of waiting. We want clean air, safe water, and protection of our precious indigenous lands. We are ready to write a new chapter for our community and our state. Senator Sinema: it’s time to support the Build Back Better act.
Andres Cano, 29, represents Legislative District 3 in the Arizona House of Representatives. He is the top Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, and Water. He is the Chair of the Arizona Legislative Latino Caucus.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2021.
Real BS….. insanity on display here!
A betrayal of all Latinos.
The whole purpose of the Climate Hoax is to take money out of Latino pockets and put it into white liberal pockets.
The lie behind the climate hoax takes place when they say “carbon tax.” There is no such thing as a carbon tax. What they really mean is a tax on gasoline and a tax on electricity.
They want to increase our $3.47 per gallon gasoline to Europe’s $8 per gallon. They want to increase our $0.12 per kilowatt-hour electricity to Europe’s $0.22 per kilowatt-hour.
This would move another $800 billion per year from the pockets of people who make $36 per hour or less into the pockets of white liberals who make $51 per hour or more.
That’s the scam taking place.
Consider how ludicrous their theories are and this column is!! Their research papers say that Texas and Florida are most at risk for weather effects of climate change from hurricane landings. Their research further says that, of all 3,100 plus counties in this nation, that Maricopa County is most at risk for temperature effects- heat and temperature.
Which two states were number one and two in job and population growth? Texas and Florida!
Which county was number one in job growth and population growth? Maricopa County!
This is costing us jobs and livelihoods??????
We need to distill the climate hoax down into a elixir and sell it as an economic development aphrodisiac.
Biden’s “build back worse” bill contains a hidden surprise for all Arizonans: an over 30% increase, on top of inflation, on our electric bills. We’ve already experienced a 48% increase in our gasoline prices.
Nothing about this bill will help Latinos.
Anyone using the phase “climate hoax” loses credibility immediately.
Climate change is real.
And it disproportionately affects minorities.
“Anyone using the phase climate hoax loses credibility immediately.”
“Climate change is real.”
“Climate change is real” that’s not what you really mean. What you really mean is that man-made climate change is real. You are trying to claim that all climate change is man-made.
There are fossilized forests in the Arctic and beds of carbon in the Antarctic, proving that, yes, there used to be forests in both places and that the climate changes. But it changed far more before the Industrial age of the last 100 years than it has changed recently.
There used to be 7,000 parts per million carbon in the air, now we are down to a precious 400 parts per million. If it drops further to 190, we are all dead. Carbon dioxide in the air is critical for human life.
12,000 years ago, the oceans rose by 200 feet. The International Panel on Climate Change forecasts that the oceans will rise by 7 inches by 2050.
The old roman port, built 7,000 years ago is now 35 feet under water. No one noticed. Do you think anyone will notice or care about the 7 inches? No. Our economy will be $50 trillion per year by 2050. We will be able to pay for any effects of that 7 inches out of our petty cash drawer.
Maricopa County creates more jobs for Latinos than any other county in the U.S. Our heat island effect has driven up temperatures unmercifully- thank you cities for not updating construction standards to allow builders to build subdivisions with less concrete and asphalt.
That heat island effect dwarfs the Climate Change Hoax supposed change.
And it disproportionately affects minorities.
Consider how devastating the Climate Change has been in Europe. Their $8 per gallon gasoline and $0.22 per kwh electricity prices have destroyed job and wealth creation over the last forty years.
Despite having a population 10 million larger than the U.S., the Eurozone Countries have 22 million fewer jobs. That’s just the beginning of the disaster. Our median household income in the U.S. is $67,000 per year. The median household income in the Eurozone Countries is less than $40,000.
We continually hear in the media about the socialist paradise that is Europe. But the truth is something completely different: they are poverty stricken.
Consider this too: when they get that $40,000 which is so much lower than ours, they still have to pay double our gas prices and double our electricity prices and an average 20% Value Added Tax.
Disaster is what this column is recommending to us.
It is as big a hoax as covid vaccine ensuring against infection. Hold the liars liable.
“In Arizona, the climate crisis has become a real and growing threat to our lives and livelihoods. Prolonged drought is creating a ripple effect of uncertainty, massive wildfires are devastating local economies, and heat-related illnesses and deaths are on the rise as triple-digit temperatures skyrocket. “
Total BS of course. Let’s examine “prolonged drought” for example. I’ve been keeping rain totals and reporting to rainlog.org for 16 years. Last year was drier than most; only 6.46 inches. The year before, 2019, was wetter than my normal; 14.36 inches.
Cano would point to this and say, “Ah ha, I told you so, proof that it’s a drought.” Until I said, “No, with two months to go. the total is 12.59″, a bit higher than my average annual rainfall.” This is “climate change”, also known as normal variability.
When anyone starts off with, “The choice is crystal clear”, you know it isn’t.
Okay, I’ll bite. What are “indigenous lands”?
Answering my own question: bafflegab.
Whenever I encounter a story such as this (and trust me, it is a story) Stanford professor Paul R. Ehrlich, PhD always leaps to mind.
Ehrlich wrote a book, “The Population Bomb”, that began: “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate…”
Despite just having said the battle is over, he went on to save the planet anyway by, for one thing, controlling population. Control methods included sterilization and abortion (applause from Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger and Democrats). “People of color” look out.