Our Opinion: Environment top priority of Arizonans
Legislature shouldn't hamstring state agency
Asthma and sickness from tainted water know no partisan bounds: Even Republican voters want a clean environment.
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Here we go again. Some Republican legislators want to snap a short leash on the state Department of Environmental Quality, reauthorizing it only for a short time - and with several conditions.
They can't abolish ADEQ, lest the federal Environmental Protection Agency step in with even stricter standards.
But a House-Senate committee now recommends the department - set to expire July 1 - be reauthorized for just two years, rather than the usual 10-year renewals for state agencies.
ADEQ is responsible for protecting air and water quality in Arizona. It also tests auto emissions, issues permits where pollution may be generated and cleans up contamination from leaking fuel storage tanks.
But some legislators want the department to play "Mother may I" - requesting legislative permission before it could, for example, work to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
The Western Climate Initiative, with seven governors (including those from Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and California) and four Canadian premiers, initiated a cap-and-trade program.
It limits carbon dioxide emissions from power plants but lets producers trade their emissions allowances.
Arizona's version was enacted in 2006 by order of Gov. Janet Napolitano. But some legislators say cap-and-trade is a virtual tax, and they want legislative approval required before such environmental efforts can be made.
Earlier this year, Napolitano vetoed legislation that would have required such approval.
These same lawmakers also question whether ADEQ issues permits fast enough, especially for uranium mines in northern Arizona, and whether some projects were appropriate when added to environmental lawsuit settlements.
But in pushing for less environmental oversight and more instantaneous green lights for industries, these Republicans are missing a key point.
Arizonans want clean air and clean water. Tourism depends on it. Luring new businesses to Arizona depends on it. Indeed, our very lives depend on it, as do the lives of our children and grandchildren.
These elected officials will not win kudos for their efforts to hamstring this regulatory agency, thus allowing environmental quality to be grossly degraded.
Even Republicans can have asthmatic children, an aversion to tainted water and a desire to ensure that Arizona's environment is pristine.
We strongly urge the Legislature to not only renew the Department of Environmental Quality for the full 10 years, but also to lend it full support and encouragement to continue keeping Arizona's air and water clean and safe - for all of our sakes.
It is amazing though, the number of really ignorant people who think that their money and their cars and their homes are more important than the environment in which they LIVE!. The environment is THE most important feature of our lives on this planet. Simple, straightforward and true.