Photo courtesy of the National Parks Service
Right now, Congress is deciding how much to invest in climate, jobs, and justice through the Build Back Better Act. As a three-decade Arizonan, I’m disappointed that my home state senator, Kyrsten Sinema, has been one of the voices calling for a less ambitious bill that would almost certainly fail to address our country’s interconnected crises—climate change, racial injustice, economic insecurity, and public health—at the scale required.
Failure to support strong climate provisions will put Senator Sinema out of step with Arizona. New polling from the Global Strategy Group found that Sinema’s constituents want a big, bold climate bill, and that supporting the full $3.5 trillion Build Back Better package would be a political win for Arizona politicians. Nearly two in three voters statewide (65 percent) say they want to see the $3.5 trillion legislation passed, including overwhelming majorities of Democrats (88 percent) and Independents (69 percent).
The new poll also reveals that Arizona voters are poised to reward a “yes” vote on the Build Back Better Act, and to penalize a “no” vote. In a generic ballot test, a Democrat who votes for the Build Back Better Act would move from a virtual tie with a Republican candidate in the next election to a 17-point lead over a Republican who opposes the bill. Meanwhile, a Democrat who voted against the Build Back Better Act would lose by 31 percentage points to a Republican who supports the bill. This shift is among the largest political impacts of a piece of legislation that Global Strategy Group has seen in any poll.
Arizonans are ready for climate action because we’ve seen firsthand the dangers that climate change poses to our state, our communities, and our health. We’ve felt the scorch of far too many 110-degree days and watched them grow more frequent every year. Phoenix, where I live, is one of the fastest-warming cities in the nation. Last year, we endured 144 days where temperatures reached at least 100 degrees—and in June of 2020 and this past June again the thermometer reached an intolerable 118 degrees.
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The heat isn’t just unpleasant. It’s dangerous. Incidences of heat deaths and illnesses are rising across Arizona, especially among the elderly, unhoused people, outdoor workers, and other marginalized groups. The heat dries out vegetation and fuels increasingly destructive wildfires that will become even larger and more frequent if our representatives fail to take the climate crisis seriously. Extreme heat is also stretching families’ finances, as they struggle to pay for the electricity they need to keep their homes cool. Low-income families in Arizona spend up to 20 percent of their income on energy.
The climate crisis is not only making our state hotter. It’s also drying it out. Ninety-five percent of the West is currently in drought, putting pressure on water supplies—including the Colorado River, which supplies 40 percent of Arizona’s water. Starting in January, for the first time ever, Arizona will experience cuts to its supply of Colorado River water. Our other waters are also threatened as Arizona is in its 26th year of a long-term drought, the worst in more than 1,000 years.
Arizona has so much to lose from the climate crisis—but so much to gain from the investments contained in the full Build Back Better Act. Chief among them are the policies to transition the country to 100 percent clean energy. Arizona is among the sunniest states in the nation, and 86 percent of Arizonans want their state to lead the way in the development and deployment of solar energy, which would help clean up our air, save water, and create good jobs. The full Build Back Better Act also includes investments that will help make our communities healthier and safer, like replacing all lead pipes and deploying electric buses and cars in place of vehicles powered by dirty fuels such as diesel.
A Civilian Climate Corps, one of the key components of the Build Back Better Act, would also be especially beneficial to Arizona, since it contains so many acres of parks and public lands. This program would enable us to pay our young people a living wage to rehabilitate our shared public spaces and protect our precious ecosystems—ensuring that people are able to enjoy them for generations to come.
The Build Back Better Act is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver transformational investments in clean energy and infrastructure that will enable us to effectively tackle the climate crisis, create millions of family-sustaining jobs, and fight economic, racial, environmental, and gender injustice. The choices we make now will shape our society’s direction and the health of our planet for centuries. As I witness the damage that the climate crisis inflicts on communities and ecosystems across my state, it’s clearer than ever that our senators must seize this historic chance to make truly significant investments in Arizona’s future. Join me in telling Arizona’s senators to support the full Build Back Better Act.