STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX - Determined to protect Arizona business and industry from burdensome and unnecessary federal regulations, State Senator Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, is sponsoring legislation (SCR1050) declaring that the Arizona State Legislature has the sole authority to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other emissions.

 "I am very concerned that Congress and the Administration plan to move ahead with some form of 'cap-and-trade' legislation that would create unbearable hardships for Arizona companies," Allen said. "This bill would allow Arizona to take a stand."
Intended to protect the state's economy from anticipated federal mandates, Allen's legislation, the "Freedom to Breathe Act," would ask Arizona voters to affirm the State of Arizona's constitutional authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and would prohibit the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing greenhouse gas regulations without the Legislature's consent.
As an example, Allen cited the EPA's recent efforts to implement stricter environmental regulations that threaten to close the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in northern Arizona. The station, which supplies electricity to the Central Arizona Project, employs nearly 600 employees and sustains the Peabody Coal Mine, which also employs more than 400 employees. Both the mine and the station account for most of the Hopi Tribe's operating revenue. Closure of the station would have a devastating impact on northern Arizona's economy and would lead to dramatically higher water prices for central Arizona residents.
"Whether one believes that global warming is real or myth, recent events have made it clear that the science of global warming is far from settled. From Climategate, which exposed the deceptiveness of global warming 'experts' to recent data showing that temperatures have not risen for 15 years, it's clear that Arizona businesses and industry should not be subject to federal regulations that are based on faulty science and driven by a political agenda."
Allen's legislation has been approved by the Senate Natural Resources Committee and is currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee.


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