Howl against data centers, bad energy policy, the border wall and legislative overreach (and to protect this little guy)

Howling against harmful bills 

This week's actions include a number of bills related to bad energy policies and data centers. There are also bills that try to limit the power of the Attorney General to protect our resources and health. And, of course there are bills to fund additional border wall construction and limit actions to reintroduce the Mexican Grey Wolf. Please weigh in on these harmful bills before they are heard in their respective committees.

Sign into the Request to Speak system: https://apps.azleg.gov/account/signon If you haven't signed up for the system, you can find the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdjBMoAJrjHD57GGegmdUCKAowcr93K4vQA6a7_AjyElBtrQ/viewform Directions on how to navigate the system: https://desktopactivisttucson.blogspot.com/2018/03/request-to-speak-time.html On the bright side, the Sierra Club is hosting some learning opportunities to prepare you for Environmental Day at the Capitol. Don't forget to sign up! February 5th at 6PM - Extreme Heat and Policy -- RSVP Here.   February 6th at 6PM - Bills, Bills, Bills! - Learn a bit more about a few of the bills we will be lobbying on - Register Here. Environmental Day at the Capitol on Wednesday, February 11th, 8:30am - 2:00pm. This is your opportunity to express your concerns with your legislators or be there to support other advocates. The Sierra Club has simple online training and one-sheets on bills they promote. This rewarding event is a great way to meet other like-minded people who also care about the environment. Transportation and lunch is provided. Be sure to register now - especially if you want a ride on the bus (as the bus fills up quickly).  https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po000019vMfuIAE Monday, February 2nd Senate Military Affairs and Border Security at 1:30 P.M.  Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1157 appropriation; fencing; border; high-crossing areas (Rogers: Finchem) appropriates $20 million from the state General Fund to cities, towns and counties for the installation of supplemental fencing or bollard walls in high-crossing areas along the border. The last thing we need are more walls that block wildlife, water, and contribute to the deaths of more people. OPPOSE House Land, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee at 2:00 P.M.  Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2167 attorney general; nuisance action; damages (Diaz) makes the Attorney General liable for damages to anyone injured in a public nuisance action filed by the Attorney General. This is an attempt to shut down Attorney General actions to protect our state's waters and health. OPPOSE HB2168 public nuisance action; consent requirement (Diaz) requires the Attorney General to obtain consent from the Board of Supervisors before bringing a public nuisance action. Again, this is an attempt to prevent the AG from acting to protect our health and water. OPPOSE HB2169 attorney general; nuisance action; defamation (Diaz) says the Attorney General is liable for defamation if the AG brings an action relating to public nuisance that is found to have no "reasonable" basis. Again, this is part of an effort to shut down actions by the AG to protect public resources. OPPOSE Tuesday, February 3rd   Senate Natural Resource Committee at 1:30 PM Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1202 supply and demand; assessment; groundwater (Shope) requires the Arizona Department of Water Resources to include more specific data in the supply and demand assessments, but much of the data requested is not available currently and this bill does not provide funding to gather the additional data. OPPOSE SB1280 public monies; Mexican wolf; prohibition (Farnsworth) prohibits the Arizona Game and Fish Commission from transporting Mexican gray wolf puppies into Arizona or from spending any money for transporting them. This could affect much needed introduction of wolf families with important genetic diversity. OPPOSE  House Natural Resources, Energy, & Water Committee at 2:00 PM  Members of the public may attend in person or access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2145 petition; waiver; fuel formulations (Griffin) allows the Senate President or Speaker of the House to petition to allow for alternative fuel formulations. This bypasses the environmental experts who should be making these decisions. OPPOSE HB2331 electric service providers; energy reliability (Marshall: Heap) has a strike-everything amendment that requires that 85% of generation for retail customers come from "reliable" sources. The wording of this bill effectively says 85% of generation capacity would have to be from fossil fuels. This also appears to infringe on the constitutional authority of the Arizona Corporation Commission as it affects rate making. OPPOSE HB2389 replacement units; certificates; environmental compatibility (Martinez) allows a utility to build a power plant to replace an existing plant on the same site without getting a new certificate of environmental compatibility. This bypasses environmental review of new power plants which could potentially be more polluting than the plants they replace since the process only looks at the rated power generation of the replacement and not the type of generator. OPPOSE HB2400 motor fuel tax holiday (Willoughby: Biasiucci) provides for a fuel tax holiday in certain nonattainment areas over the summer. This makes no sense as it is what helps maintain the roads. Besides, our gas tax is pretty low and has not gone up in decades. OPPOSE HB2494 certificate; environmental compatibility; zoning; exemption (Taylor: Carbone, Griffin) says a county can't prevent, restrict, or regulate the use or occupation of land for construction of both thermal and nonthermal electric generating units if the owner has received a certificate of environmental compatibility. This process appears to bypass state and county environmental quality reviews.  OPPOSE HB2696 commerce authority; gas; prices; prioritization (Willoughby) requires the Commerce Authority to use all available resources to reduce gas prices in Arizona. How about incentivizing sustainable transportation options? OPPOSE HB2795 small modular reactors; zoning; approval (Carbone) preempts county government from preventing, restricting, or in any way regulating the siting of small modular nuclear reactors if the reactors have gotten federal approvals. This is unwise and flies in the face of efforts to ensure that local communities are not disproportionately and negatively impacted by siting of these plants. OPPOSE Wednesday, February 4th Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Committee at 9:00 A.M. Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. SB1241 municipalities; counties; private permitting providers (Bolick) It allows a property owner to use a private permitting provider thus bypassing city or county review. OPPOSE Thursday, February 5th   House Artificial Intelligence Committee at 9:00 AM Members of the public may access a livestream of the meeting here. HB2452 comprehensive plans; data centers; nuclear (Wilmeth) among other things, this bill requires counties to include land designations for data centers and small modular nuclear reactors in their comprehensive plans. OPPOSE