Wil Cardon: Flake Fights For Higher Energy Tax

May 25, 2012 By Press Release 3 Comments

Mr. Flake Pushed an Energy Tax that Republicans Opposed

In 2009, Flake Co-Sponsored A Bill to Raise Carbon Taxes

Career Politician Congressman Flake Claims to be a Conservative but His Colleagues on Capitol Hill Thought His Carbon Tax Was Anything But Conservative

“The bill puts the two lawmakers at odds with Republican congressional leaders, who’ve criticized the Democrats’ cap-and-trade plans as carbon taxes in disguise. ‘Cap and trade is code for increasing taxes, killing American jobs and raising energy costs for consumers,’ House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said. ‘The so-called ‘cap and trade’ proposal amounts to a carbon tax, plain and simple.’” (James Rosen, “Republican Lawmakers Back Carbon Tax (Yes, That’s Right),” McClatchy Newspapers, 5/13/09; www.mcclatchydc.com/)

Flake’s Carbon Tax Would Cost an Arizona Family of 4 $1,000 a year

Jeff Flake Says He’s Watching Out for Arizona, but He’s Not

For documentation and to try to get an explanation call Congressman Flake at 602-845-0333.

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Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Elected Officials, Energy, Legislation, Press Release, Taxation Tagged With: Jeff Flake, US Senate, Wil Cardon

Jeff Flake provides ‘the rest of the story’

May 24, 2012 By Press Release 1 Comment

Dear Friends,

You may have seen an ad running on television from my opponent claiming that I want a massive energy tax and suggesting that I support cap and trade. This, of course, is untrue.

Let me give you, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story.

In 2009, President Obama and the Democratic Majority in Congress were pushing the cap-and-trade bill, which most Republicans and I opposed. During debate on the bill, there were a number of us that thought we needed a way to expose the Democrats’ awful plan for what it was — a revenue grab in the worst way.

So we put together a revenue-neutral tax swap designed to counter the Democrats’ bill. Unlike cap and trade, our proposal cut taxes and did not increase spending. The legislation stipulated that any carbon tax revenue raised by the government would go directly into the Social Security Trust Fund, and at the same time the payroll tax would be lowered by the same amount. This way, there was no incentive for politicians to raise the tax, since they wouldn’t get their hands on the money to spend. It was used as a way to call the Democrats’ bluff. I should note that in the end, we succeeded — cap and trade failed.

Many notable conservatives supported our proposal’s honest, market-driven approach, including Arthur Laffer, a noted economist and former economic policy advisor to President Reagan, who said: “The bill that Jeff Flake cosponsored was a smart, free market, conservative approach to expose the Democrat’s Cap and Trade bill for was it was — a massive tax increase.”

Laffer penned an op-ed in the New York Times in support of our approach, as did conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, writing in the Weekly Standard.

Rest assured that I will, as I have in the past, lead the fight in Congress for lower taxes, limited government and less regulation.

Sincerely,

Jeff Flake

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Elected Officials, Energy, Federal Government, Legislation, Press Release, Taxation Tagged With: Jeff Flake, US Senate

Congressman Gosar Reacts to Obama Admin. Distortion of Facts

May 23, 2012 By Press Release Leave a Comment

“The people of Arizona and America deserve better”

PHOENIX, AZ –U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S (R-AZ) released the following statement today in response to the recently-discovered internal emails that suggest the Obama Administration deliberately overstated the environmental impacts of uranium mining to justify its 20-year ban on uranium development on one million acres of federal land in Northern Arizona:

“When the Obama Administration announced their one million acre land-grab earlier this year, I said their actions distorted the truth and outright denied the facts in order to push their big government agenda. Nearly six months later, my committee has discovered documents that suggest the National Park Service had the scientific evidence, collected by the agency itself, detailing the reality of government deception.

Today’s reports come at a time when residents of rural Arizona continue to face record unemployment and the need for jobs. The Obama Administration’s ban should be reversed, and the people of Arizona should be allowed to move forward with these important economic development projects. These mines could provide over 1,000 high-paying jobs, generate $29 billion in economic output, and would have many other indirect economic benefits that would revitalize our region.

The people of Arizona and of America deserve better than junk science and political cover up. They deserve a government that is responsible to the people and focuses on facts, not scare tactics and misinformation. As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I will continue efforts to expose the Administration’s misinformation campaign and to work to spur economic development in Arizona.”

On January 9th, 2012, the Obama Administration announced it would impose a 20-year ban on uranium mining on one million acres of federal land in Arizona—one of the most uranium-rich areas in the United States. Internal emails obtained by the House Natural Resources Committee raise significant questions into the science used by the Obama Administration to justify its ban. In the emails, scientists within the National Park Service discuss how the potential environmental impacts were “grossly overestimated” in the Administration’s record of decision and that the potential impacts were “very minor to negligible.” More information on the House Natural Resources Committee’s findings can be found here.

Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have introduced the “Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011,” known as H.R. 3155. The bill would reverse the Secretary of the Interior’s 20-year ban.

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Filed Under: Elected Officials, Energy, Environment, Federal Government, Legislation, Press Release Tagged With: AZ01, CD-1, Paul Gosar

CD-8′s Jesse Kelly releases new ad on American Energy

May 18, 2012 By Sonoran Alliance Leave a Comment

Jesse Kelly’s campaign just released the following ad on the issue of energy. In the ad, Kelly’s campaign warns Southern Arizona voters that Ron Barber’s support for President Obama’s Cap & Trade policy will cost Arizona’s an extra $1,000 in energy costs per family and cause the loss of 40,000 jobs here.

Please visit Jesse Kelly’s website to see how you can keep this seat out of the hands of extremist Democrats like Ron Barber.

Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Energy, Media, Press Release Tagged With: AZ08, CD-8, Jesse Kelly, Ron Barber

Congressman Gosar Town Hall TONIGHT

May 1, 2012 By Sound Advice Leave a Comment

Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-01)
Tuesday, May 1st
6:00pm-7:30pm

Prescott Resort & Conference Center
1500 State Route 69
Prescott, AZ 86301

Also speaking:

Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog

Come listen to Congressman Paul Gosar speak about national energy
policy, rising gas prices, and other issues affecting our community.

This forum is free and open to the public.

For more information or to RSVP, please call Paul Layeux at 602.955.2186
or email arizonaenergyforum@live.com.

The Arizona Energy Forum is a bipartisan coalition of Arizona citizens that support energy
policies that protect our nation’s energy and economic security, hearby protecting American jobs, and keeping energy prices low for American families.

Filed Under: Energy, Town Hall, Uncategorized

How to Make the Sun Shine on Solar Energy

April 25, 2012 By Goldwater Institute 1 Comment

By Stephen Slivinski

Recent news from the solar industry includes headlines about Germany cutting solar subsidies and Arizona-based First Solar laying off 30 percent of its employees.

First Solar’s move comes despite a grant of $16.3 million from the federal government’s Export-Import Bank in 2010 to expand one of its factories in Ohio. To sweeten the pot for First Solar, the Ex-Im Bank guaranteed more than $400 million in loans to St. Clair Solar in Canada to buy solar panels from First Solar. It turns out that the Canadian company was a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Solar, so the U.S. government was subsidizing the company to manufacture and then purchase its own product from itself. Even with those heavy subsidies, First Solar is still dimming.

Like the U.S., Germany has offered generous solar subsidies in the past. But now with substantial solar-energy capacity – perhaps too much to persist without subsidies – and serious economic trouble, Germany is cutting its solar subsidy programs.

Solar companies and governments seem to be learning a basic economic lesson. Duke economist Michael Munger explains, “if an activity is profitable, it produces more in value than it uses up in costs. If an activity is not profitable, it uses up more in resources than it produces in value.” If subsidies bolster a company’s bottom line, then the market signal of a company’s profitability is “fake, and the activity still uses up more resources than it produces in value.”

In the end, doing away with subsidies may lead to a brighter future for solar energy. Subsidies have shielded solar companies from competition and sometimes protected flawed business models. It’s too soon to tell whether the solar industry can be a viable long-term energy producer in a cost-effective and economically efficient way. But we may never know if we continue to protect it – and other energy sources – from competition.

Stephen Slivinski is senior economist for the Goldwater Institute.

Learn more:

Washington Examiner: Firm sells solar panels – to itself, taxpayers pay

Washington Post: Solar industry faces subsidy cuts in Europe

Prof. Michael Munger: Truly massive solar fail

Goldwater Institute: Government subsidized energy is just the same old song

Filed Under: Economic Development, Economics, Energy

Will Krysten Sinema Learn from the Democrats’ Solyndra Stimulus Disaster?

April 3, 2012 By Press Release Leave a Comment

Arizona Democrat’s Washington Allies Remain Desperately Committed to their Fatally Flawed National Energy Policy

WASHINGTON — Kyrsten Sinema’s Washington Democrat allies promised jobs and energy independence when they passed their massive $800 billion stimulus, but it became increasingly clear that gambling with taxpayer dollars was going to cause more harm than good. Despite the obvious lessons learned from the unprecedented spending spree, would Sinema also cling to these failed stimulus spending policies like her prospective Democrat leaders after they gave Americans the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal and record-high energy prices?

“Kyrsten Sinema can now see exactly how her Washington Democrat leaders’ stimulus spending spree led to failures like the Solyndra bankruptcy instead of economic recovery and energy independence,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “With this in mind, will Sinema join her Democrat allies’ efforts to continue the same energy policies that gave Americans the $535 million Solyndra bankruptcy, record-high energy prices and broken promises?”

A former FBI agent hired to investigate the Solyndra bankruptcy concluded the Obama Administration was well aware of the risk when they decided to gamble with millions in taxpayer-funded stimulus loans:

“The Department of Energy was fully aware of the risks in backing Solyndra Inc., a start-up company that pocketed a half-billion dollar DOE loan but never turned a penny in profit before shutting its doors, concludes a former FBI agent hired to examine the company’s books…

“In fact, records show, the Energy Department supported the Solyndra financing in the early days of the Obama administration in the face of criticism from officials within several wings of government — the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Treasury and DOE. ‘This deal is NOT ready for prime time,’ one OMB employee wrote March 10, 2009, government emails show. Ten days later, energy officials announced Solyndra was in line to be the first company to secure a green energy loan guarantee.” (Ronnie Greene, “Department of Energy knew of Solyndra risks, former FBI agent finds,” iWatch News, 3/29/12)

And Democrats remained committed to their stimulus energy flops after they managed to achieve little except burning through taxpayer money:

“Week after week, Romer would march in with an estimate of the jobs all the investments in clean energy would produce; week after week, Obama would send her back to check the numbers. ‘I don’t get it,’ he’d say. ‘We make these large-scale investments in infrastructure. What do you mean there are no jobs?’ But the numbers rarely budged.” (Jordan Weissmann, “There Are Way Fewer Green Jobs Than You Think,” The Atlantic, 3/26/12)

Will Sinema Learn from the Democrats’ Solyndra Stimulus Disaster? http://ow.ly/a3agd #powerfailure

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Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Economics, Energy, Federal Government, Press Release Tagged With: CD-9, Kyrsten Sinema, NRCC

Gov. Jan Brewer on report showing Arizona Solar Energy Development Up 333 percent in 2011

March 22, 2012 By Press Release 4 Comments

State 3^rd Nationally in Solar Production, Expected to Climb Rankings in 2012

PHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer today announced that Arizona ranks third in the nation in terms of solar system installation, according to the 2011 U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

More impressive, Arizona’s energy production from photovoltaic systems jumped from 63 to 273 megawatts between 2010 and 2011 – a tremendous 333 percent rate of growth. Arizona now trails only California and New Jersey in terms of solar megawatt production, and the SEIA report projects Arizona will jump into 2^nd place nationally this year.

“This report illustrates why Arizona has earned the title of ‘Solar King,’” said Governor Brewer. “With our abundant sunshine, renewable-energy tax incentives and trained workforce, it’s no surprise solar energy production is soaring in Arizona.”

Nationally, energy production from photovoltaic installations grew 109 percent in 2011, according to the SEIA report. Growth was found in every market segment (residential, non-residential and utility), and project finance investments reached an all-time high. In total, $8.4 billion worth of photovoltaic systems were installed in the United States last year alone.

Solar energy is not only a clean fuel that reduces our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, it also creates quality jobs for Arizonans. The state ranked 3^rd nationally in 2011 with nearly 4,800 jobs in the solar energy field, according to the National Solar Jobs Census, issued in October by The Solar Foundation.

Since 2010, nine renewable-energy companies have located or expanded operations in Arizona – creating more than 2,100 jobs and investing more than $1 billion in capital.

To view the 2011 U.S. Solar Market Insight Report, visit: www.seia.org/cs/research/solarinsight

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Filed Under: Economic Development, Energy, Press Release, State Government Tagged With: Jan Brewer, Solar Energy

CD-9 Travis Grantham Criticizes Obama on Rejection of Keystone XL Pipeline

January 19, 2012 By Press Release 1 Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 19, 2012
CONTACT: Evan Kozlow

Tempe – Travis Grantham, candidate for Congress in Arizona’s new 9th Congressional District released the following statement today following President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline:

“It is inexcusable that President Obama has chosen partisan politics over the people of the United States by rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline project. President Obama and his entire administration have shown that special interests far outweigh the needs of the American people in regards to job creation, national security, and reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

The Keystone XL pipeline would have created approximately 20,000 new jobs for American workers throughout the country and into the Gulf of Mexico while bolstering our national security and our economy. I’ve witnessed firsthand the sacrifice that our troops are making on a daily basis defending our foreign sources of oil due to our lack of domestic production. With the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama has further solidified our dependence on foreign sources of oil and has dealt a major blow to the United States of America’s domestic energy production.

The United States is facing an unprecedented economic crisis in addition to an energy crisis that can no longer be ignored or pushed off to the next generation. President Obama has put his special interests well ahead of America’s on this day. The American people deserve far better leadership out of Washington than what is being exhibited now by both our Congress and our President.”

Travis Grantham is a candidate for Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District. He serves as the Chief Operations Officer at International Air Response based at the Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport. He is also a Captain and Pilot in the Arizona Air National Guard’s 161st Air Refueling Wing based out of Sky Harbor International Airport. Travis and his wife Patricia have two daughters.

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Filed Under: Campaigns & Elections, Energy, Jobs/Labor, Legislation, Press Release Tagged With: CD-9, Keystone XL, Travis Grantham

Ending the Solar Subsidy Fiasco

January 12, 2012 By Goldwater Institute Leave a Comment

By Clint Bolick, Goldwater Institute

It’s not every day that the New York Times makes a compelling case against government giveaways. But a recent page-one article underscored that the Solyndra scandal was only the tip of the solar-subsidy iceberg. Huge companies like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, General Electric, utilities including Exelon and NRG, and even Google are receiving government guarantees that ensure large profits with virtually no risk — except to the taxpayer.

The Times ascribes to the Obama administration a “gold-rush mentality” when Congress expanded green-power incentives in 2009, despite a paralyzing federal deficit. The chief executive of NRG, which received $5.2 billion in federal loan guarantees plus hundreds of millions in other subsidies for solar projects, gushed that “I have never seen anything . . . in my 20 years in the power industry that involved less risk than these projects.”

A start-up industry with no capital risk to investors? It’s a nifty deal if you can get it—and many have. “It is like building a hotel, where you know in advance you are going to have 100 percent room occupancy for 25 years,” the Times quotes the CEO of SolarReserve. Even some of President Obama’s top advisors have warned of industry “double-dipping.”

Solar may be the most-subsidized industry in American history. Not only are producers subsidized at the federal, state, and sometimes even local levels, but consumers are subsidized to purchase solar panels, utility companies are forced to use and further subsidize solar power, and higher utility rates are passed along to Americans amidst deep recession.

Arizona is immersed in solar subsidies, providing tax breaks and (through the Corporation Commission) mandating that 15 percent of all utility energy be provided through specified renewable sources. Cost and technological feasibility are no object, and every dollar in added costs is passed along to consumers through a utility surcharge.

If the New York Times gets it, shouldn’t sensible, self-styled conservative elected officials? It’s time for government to stop playing Santa Claus to this pampered industry.

Clint Bolick is director of the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.

Learn more:

New York Times: A Gold Rush of Subsidies in Clean Energy Search

Filed Under: Arizona Politics, Economic Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Spending, State Budget, State Economy, State Government

Congressman Gosar Expresses Dismay At Yet Another Obama Administration Job Killing Over Reach

January 9, 2012 By Press Release Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2012

PHOENIX, AZ –U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, DDS (AZ-01) released the following statement today following the announcement of the Obama Administration’s decision to withdraw approximately 1 million acres of federal land in northern Arizona from uranium mining:

“Today’s actions show that the administration continues to count on the distortion of truths and the outright denial of facts, to push their big government agenda. President Obama and Secretary Salazar are showing a clear indifference to the separation of powers and instead of leading our nation are being more divisive than ever.

As the representative of a large portion of the Grand Canyon National Park, the preservation of this natural treasure is very important to me. I would not want any activity to be done that would threaten that vital aspect of our economy or the aesthetic beauty of the canyon that’s why the original buffer was put into place.

In is important we realize that the rhetoric surrounding this issue focuses on facts, not scare tactics. The Administration’s land withdrawal is unnecessary to protect the Grand Canyon. The park currently has a land buffer. No uranium mine can exist within the park’s boundaries, or the park buffer. It is simply false and misleading to assert that if the land in the strip is not withdrawn, uranium mining will take place “in” the canyon or “in the park.”

I strongly believe cautious development with strong oversight under federal statue strikes the careful balance between economic activity and environmental protection and thus oppose the proposed arbitrary withdrawal.”

In the 1980’s, former Arizona Congressman Morris Udall, now-Senator John McCain, and other Congressional leaders negotiated a compromise with the uranium mining industry, native Americans, environmentalists, livestock and other stakeholder groups which formed the basis for designating Arizona’s first wilderness areas as buffer zones around the Grand Canyon National Park. The withdrawal area being considered by the Department of Interior was specifically identified for uranium mining and was opened up for economic activity as part of that negotiated agreement.

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Filed Under: Elected Officials, Energy, Environment, Federal Budget, Legislation, Press Release Tagged With: CD-1, Paul Gosar

Government subsidized energy is just the same old song

November 17, 2011 By Goldwater Institute 1 Comment

by Stephen Slivinski
Goldwater Institute

The story goes like this: Policymakers identify what they believe to be untapped potential in the energy marketplace. They subsidize it in the hopes that the start-up boost can catapult it to a vibrant form of alternative energy.

This is the general approach that federal and state policymakers are taking to the prospect of a booming future for solar energy. Subsidizing the industry now, they say, will have payoffs in the future even if the industry faces some rocky times in the short-term.

But it’s an old storyline. In fact, it’s almost identical to past failed attempts by the federal government to play venture capitalist in the energy industry. A recent Washington Post article recounted the recent, but perhaps forgotten, history of government’s attempts to help create new sources of power.

Take the Synthetic Fuels Corporation, the brainchild of President Carter’s administration. It was a type of investment fund, capitalized in part with $17 billion in taxpayer money, to start up projects that would turn coal and shale into oil and gas. By the early 1980s, oil prices had fallen and the projects that the fund financed were no longer viable.

Then more recently there were the efforts to jump-start the hydrogen fuel-cell automobile and the quest to find a clearer-burning coal. Both petered out due mainly to each project’s economic infeasibility but only after billions of taxpayer dollars were spent.

Today, the main subsidies for the solar industry are regulatory (through renewable energy mandates on traditional energy providers), tax credits for purchases of solar panels, and property tax abatements for manufacturers and producers of solar energy and its related products. Yet it’s not clear that policymaker preference for solar will prove any more accurate than prior flirtations with new forms of energy.

Solar may one day provide a robust alternative to fossil fuels. But it’s probably going to require a set of market conditions that may not exist for quite some time. In the meantime, if enough venture capital investors think it’s a worthwhile gamble, let’s make sure government doesn’t get in their way. But putting taxpayer money on the line, that’s another story.

Stephen Slivinski is senior economist for the Goldwater Institute.

Learn More:

Washington Post: Before Solyndra, a long history of failed government energy projects

Marginal Revolution: What is the future of solar power?

Filed Under: Energy, Spending

Supervisors adopt UN Agenda 21 bankrupt solar and green programs

November 5, 2011 By American Post Gazette 17 Comments

A m e r i c a n P o s t – G a z e t t e

Distributed by C O M M O N S E N S E , in Arizona

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Solar companies like Solyndra are going bankrupt after billion dollar bailouts by the federal government, and are now under investigation. “Sustainability” has been exposed as a disguised word for the UN program Agenda 21 that seeks to undermine US authority and implement radical environmentalism that will crush our freedom and liberties. The UN is making agreements at the local level with city councils, county supervisors, and other local boards. Our local communities must put a stop to this.

Yet the Maricopa County Supervisors are not listening and have gone ahead and made agreements with the UN subverting our authority to these agreements, and are actively implementing solar energy even though these companies are under investigation. Is this troubled Tempe-based solar company, one of two largest solar companies in the US, the company the Supervisors have contracted with? Read more from the Arizona Republic article:

Maricopa County pushes going green

3 years after program launch, 103 sustainable measures in effect

by Michelle Ye Hee Lee - Oct. 22, 2011
The Arizona Republic

The buzz word in Maricopa County government is “green.”

Maricopa County adopted its “Green Government” program more than three years ago with the idea that energy and resource conservation is good not only for the environment but also for residents and for the county’s bottom line.

“Everything we do, we’re going to do with an eye to reducing our carbon footprint,” said county Supervisor Don Stapley, who spurred the county’s sustainability initiatives in 2008. “If the county does that, and sets that example, I think the citizens of this county will also embrace and follow that leadership.”

The three-pronged approach to sustainability is a growing national trend, experts say. As budgets tighten, more local governments have adopted sustainability as a money-saving measure.

Maricopa County officials identified 144 sustainability measures that they deemed plausible. Since the program began in June 2008, county officials say, 103 measures have been successfully implemented, 31 have been launched and the remaining 10 have not been started.

“It’s important to know that sustainability . . . really is a three-legged stool. One of those things is economics. If things don’t make sense economically, we’re not going to do them, just because that’s a crucial component of sustainability,” said Jonce Walker, Maricopa County sustainability manager.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this week approved an agreement with Arizona Public Service Co. to install solar panels on the roofs of three county buildings, the latest step in the county’s solar-panel installation process.

Among the projects the county has completed in recent years: installing solar panels on jail buildings to heat the showers and at the county-owned Buckeye Hills Regional Park to power the park complex, including a shooting range.

Adding solar panels

Earlier this year, 228 solar panels mounted atop the county’s White Tank Branch Library and Nature Center generated excess energy. The excess energy was credited to the county’s account, then directed to the APS electrical grid for other customers to use.

The county’s green initiatives run the gamut.

For road projects, the Maricopa County Department of Transportation uses rubberized asphalt recycled from old tires that would have been thrown away in landfills or stored on the ground, posing potential fire threats.Four county buildings have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification: the downtown justice center, Estrella Mountain Regional Park, the former Santa Fe Freight Depot site that recently reopened as a satellite site for the Assessor’s Office, and the White Tank facility.

The U.S. Green Building Council issues LEED certification to projects that meet certain energy-conservation criteria.

Maricopa County’s green policy is comprehensive, especially because county officials did an inventory to establish an energy-consumption baseline, implemented a wide range of measures and tracks its progress closely, said Don Knapp, spokesman for ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, an international association of cities and towns that works toward sustainability, clean energy and climate action.

Knapp said local governments across the country are recognizing that going green increases efficiency in government operations, creates jobs and saves money for taxpayers.

“In these tough economic times, you need to look at initiatives that have multiple benefits,” Knapp said. “It’s really a no-brainer.”

One of the challenges facing Maricopa County officials is changing the culture of employees and residents. The Valley is not known as a hot spot for green activism.

“If sustainability is going to work here, it can work anywhere in the world, I think – at least the country. We’re not a Portland, we’re not a Seattle. We’re not a San Francisco, New York. We have our own very unique challenges,” Walker said.

For example, the Valley since 2006 has experienced rapid growth in population – and, consequently, in waste. Maricopa County has the fourth-largest population among U.S. counties, with 3.8 million residents. That means there is a lot of waste that can be reduced, both within county departments and among residents in the community.

Filed Under: County Government, Economic Development, Elected Officials, Energy, Environment, Government, Spending

Rep. Quayle to Participate in Town Hall Discussion on Energy Issues

October 18, 2011 By Press Release 3 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2011
CONTACT: Richard Cullen

Media Advisory: Rep. Quayle Participates in Town Hall Discussion Focused on Energy Issues

WHAT: Congressman Ben Quayle (R-AZ), a member of the House Energy Action Team (HEAT), participates in a town hall discussion hosted by the Arizona Energy Forum
WHEN: Wednesday, October 19 at 6:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
WHERE: Camelback High School
ADDRESS: 4612 North 28th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016
PARTICIPANTS: Congressman Ben Quayle (R-AZ), Rep. Kate Brophy McGee (LD11 Energy Committee), Troy Hyde, Chair of the Arizona Energy Forum

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Filed Under: Elected Officials, Energy, Press Release, Special Event, Town Hall Tagged With: Ben Quayle, CD-3, Kate Brophy McGee

Quayle Town Hall tomorrow night

October 18, 2011 By Sound Advice 2 Comments

Filed Under: Energy, Environment, Federal Government

Senators & Congressmen Introduce Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act

October 12, 2011 By Press Release 2 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 12, 2011
CONTACT: Brian Rogers (McCain), Kate Middleton (Franks), Apryl Marie Fogel (Gosar), Genevieve Frye Rozansky (Flake), Rachel Semmel (Schweikert), Richard Cullen (Quayle)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) and U.S. Congressmen Trent Franks (AZ-02), Rob Bishop (UT-01), Jeff Flake (AZ-06), Paul Gosar (AZ-01), David Schweikert (AZ-05) and Ben Quayle (AZ-03) today introduced the Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011. This legislation will stop the U.S. Department of the Interior from banning mining in a vast area of Arizona, and killing jobs in the uranium mining industry.

In a recent letter to Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, several members of Congress wrote in protest of the Secretary’s proposed a one million acre withdrawal of mining rights. The members stated the withdrawal has nothing to do with protecting the Grand Canyon environment but is actually ‘de facto wilderness’ for a region that conservationists previously agreed would remain accessible to the mining industry. The Interior Department’s own environmental study on the proposed withdrawal found ‘no conclusive evidence’ that modern-day mining operations in this area are harming the Grand Canyon watershed.

The Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011 would uphold the historic agreement embodied by the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (AWA) that designated parts of the Arizona Strip as Wilderness and restored other lands to reasonable and safe uranium mining uses. The letter points out that the AWA “expressly refrained from banning mining on the Arizona Strip.”

“The Department’s proposed mining withdrawal would kill hundreds of potential jobs to ‘save’ the Grand Canyon from the same form of uranium mining that conservation groups once supported,” said Senator McCain. “It also threatens to unravel the spirit of the Arizona Wilderness Act and will raise significant questions for future Wilderness bills if agreements to accommodate responsible land uses are neither genuine nor enduring.”

“Despite the fact that uranium mining efforts have for decades operated without impacting the environment or the beauty of our national parks, President Obama is nonetheless seeking to make 326-375 million pounds of the best quality uranium in the entire country off-limits, thus putting the desires of a handful of rabid environmentalists above America’s long-term energy independence and national security,” said Congressman Franks.

“The Obama Administration continues to push policies that stifle American energy exploration and job creation,” Senator Hatch said. “Through Utah and the West, there’s an abundance of energy that would help fuel the economic recovery we so desperately need. This legislation ensures that these vital public lands are accessible to domestic energy producers so we can harness the nation’s second largest domestic source of uranium ore.”

“This Department of Interior’s decision to halt mining in this region is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent congress in order to create new de-facto wilderness areas. Blocking access to more than a third of the known U.S. uranium deposits would have a devastating impact on job creation and would increase our reliance on foreign sources of uranium. As it stands, we already depend on other countries for more than 90% of our uranium needs,” said Congressman Rob Bishop. “This legislation will block yet another federal land grab and help ensure that we have access to our abundant domestic energy resources, which are essential to the future of this country.”

“After having his ‘wild lands’ policy resoundingly rejected by Utahns and other state and local officials, Secretary Salazar appears intent upon using whatever authority he can claim to lock up lands in the western states,” said Senator Lee. “The withdrawal of one million acres of mining rights also reneges on a compromise between the federal government and the mining industry negotiated in good faith almost thirty years ago, setting an unwelcome precedent that could have future negative consequences. This legislation will stand as yet another rebuke of the administration’s relentless pursuit of federal land grabs and reinforce the message that the people, not federal bureaucrats, should be the final authority on what happens to land within their state’s borders.”

“Uranium mining in northern Arizona can create jobs and stimulate the region’s economy without jeopardizing the splendor and natural beauty of the area, and that’s why Arizona’s federal, state, and local officials oppose a moratorium on such mining,” said Congressman Flake.

“It is important we focus on the facts surrounding mining in the Northern Arizona Mining district,” said Congressman Gosar. “It is simply false and misleading to assert that if the Administration’s withdrawal is not enacted, uranium mining will take place ‘in’ the canyon or ‘in’ the park. However without a doubt, if the Administration’s proposed withdrawal is enacted, the potential for nearly $30 billion dollars of economic growth opportunities – nearly $700 million annually and over a thousand well paying jobs – will be eliminated. I am proud to cosponsor this important legislation, and I strongly support environmentally responsible development of our country’s vast energy and mineral resources that will expand our domestic energy supply, create new American jobs, and lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy and minerals.”

“At a time when we are desperate for jobs and economic growth, this Administration continues to do everything in its power to implement the job-killing policies of fringe environmental groups. This withdrawal is not so much a protection of the Grand Canyon, but a government land grab of economically fertile mining land,” said Congressman Schweikert.

“It is remarkable that we need legislation to force the Administration to stop such an unwarranted ban,” said Congressman Quayle. “A study conducted by the same department that is proposing the mining withdrawal found ‘no conclusive evidence’ that modern-day mining will cause any harm to the Grand Canyon region. Despite these findings, the Department of Interior is still pushing forward even though the ban will prevent the creation of thousands of potential Arizona jobs and economic growth for the state. The Administration is once again putting special interests ahead of job creation.”

Letter and bill attached.

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Filed Under: Elected Officials, Energy, Environment, Federal Government, Legislation, Press Release Tagged With: Ben Quayle, David Schweikert, Jeff Flake, John McCain, Paul Gosar, Trent Franks

Rep Flake: Uranium Mining in Northern Arizona Could Create Jobs and Stimulate Local Economy

October 12, 2011 By Press Release Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 12, 2011
CONTACT: Genevieve Frye Rozansky

Franks/Flake Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011 Will Stop Withdrawal of Lands to New Mining Claims

Washington, D.C. – Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today with Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) introduced in the House the Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011, which will prohibit the U.S. Department of the Interior from implementing a 20-year withdrawal of nearly one million acres of public lands in northern Arizona north and south of the Grand Canyon to new uranium mining claims. This legislation would also uphold the agreement reached by the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (AWA) that would not ban mining on some of the public lands in the proposed withdrawal. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced the legislation in the Senate.

In a recent letter (attached) to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Congressman Flake and others urged the Department to reconsider its proposed withdrawal. The potential moratorium on new mining claims would hinder job growth in the area and potentially require a re-write of long-held agreements reached between the environmental lobby, government, and other parties regarding the protection and management of public lands. The letter to Secretary Salazar states that the Interior Department’s internal environmental study on the proposed withdrawal found “no conclusive evidence” that modern-day mining operations in this area are harming the Grand Canyon watershed.

“Uranium mining in northern Arizona can create jobs without tarnishing the splendor of the Grand Canyon, which is why many of Arizona’s federal, state, and local officials oppose this lands withdrawal,” said Flake. “Banning new uranium mining claims in northern Arizona will overturn respected public lands management agreements and will certainly stymie job growth in Arizona.”

In July, Congressman Flake successfully included language in the House Interior Appropriations bill (H.R. 2584) to prevent the proposed withdrawal of public lands to new uranium mining claims. The bill has not yet reached the House Floor for a vote.

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Filed Under: Elected Officials, Energy, Environment, Federal Government, Legislation, Press Release Tagged With: CD-6, Jeff Flake