EDUCATING ON GLOBAL WARMING—The Arizona PIRG Education Fund’s Brad Johnson discusses policy options to reduce global warming in Arizona with members of the media.

Global warming pollution in Arizona jumped 464 percent between 1960 and 2001, according to “The Carbon Boom: National And State Trends In Global Warming Pollution Since 1960,” an analysis of government data written and released by the Arizona PIRG Education Fund.

The report exposed the need for Arizona to consider new options for its increasing power demands while combating the steep rise in global warming pollution. Increased coal use was responsible for 54 percent of this increase, oil 38 percent and natural gas 8 percent.

“Carbon Boom” ranked Arizona in the top 10 states for the largest overall increase in carbon dioxide emissions over the four decades. The consensus view of climate science holds that global temperatures are increasing, that human activities are the cause, and that further warming is inevitable unless emissions of gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere are significantly reduced.

The effects of global warming in Arizona include less available drinking water; more fuel for wildfires during hotter and drier summers; a decline in the number of farmed acres; and an increase in heat waves and extreme high-temperature days resulting in an increased risk of heat-related illness and death.

Policy Options Offer Solutions
While the Arizona PIRG Education Fund was involved in the CCAG process as a member of the Transportation and Land Use Work Group, we also conducted independent research. “A Blueprint For Action: Policy Options To Reduce Arizona’s Contribution To Global Warming” contains 14 top policy strategies that, if adopted, would help Arizona stabilize its emissions despite dramatic population growth.

These strategies would improve Arizona’s energy security and begin the technological shifts necessary to reduce Arizona’s global warming pollution to safe levels. Our solutions, based on readily available, low-cost technologies, include:

• Adopting the clean cars program, which will put an increasing number of hybrid-electric cars on Arizona’s roads and impose limits on vehicle carbon dioxide emissions.

• Reducing sprawling development and encouraging the use of public transit and other transportation alternatives.

• Expanding energy efficiency programs provided by electric and natural gas utilities and expanding appliance efficiency standards.

• Improving the efficiency of new commercial and residential buildings.

• Expanding financial incentives to put solar panels on homes and businesses across the state, and expanding and strengthening the state’s Renewable Energy Standard.