The Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter and more than two dozen other groups are calling on lawmakers to prioritize Arizona’s environment when the new legislative session begins next week.
Speaking outside the state Capitol on Wednesday, Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter, said the Republican-led Legislature has not passed, or even given committee hearings to climate change-focused bills in recent years. But she said the issue is urgent as the state’s drought worsens and extreme heat causes hundreds of deaths each year.
“They don’t have to say they stand in solidarity with all of us on climate change, but maybe they could stand in solidarity with us on saving lives,” Bahr said. “Inaction means it is going to cost us more, it is going to our kids more, it is going to cost their kids more, so we need to see action now.”
The groups have signed onto a list of actions they want lawmakers to take. They’re calling for the state to commit to climate pollution reduction goals and to change state laws that limit the Department of Environmental Quality’s ability to study greenhouse gas emissions. They also want the state to enact stricter regulations on rural groundwater pumping and protections for public lands. And they are asking lawmakers to recognize that lower income, vulnerable communities often face disproportionate impacts of pollution and climate change.
Speaking alongside the environmental groups, Senate minority leader Priya Sundareshan said she and other Democrats would introduce bills this year to reflect those priorities.
“We must protect these resources if we have any hope of being able to continue to live in Arizona into the future,” Sundareshan said.
But she acknowledged such bills will face long odds.
“I challenge the Republicans to prove us wrong, to hear our bills this session, and to make progress on environmental issues,” she said.
