Green Car Congress  
Home Topics Archives About Contact  RSS Headlines

« UK Automakers Cut Manufacturing Energy Use, Waste and CO2 Emissions by Half in Four Years | Main | BMW Announces Market Introduction of the BMW Hydrogen 7 »

Print this post

Arizona Governor Issues Executive Order for Reduction of Greenhouse Gases; Focus on Transportation

12 September 2006

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has signed an Executive Order (2006-13) that sets a goal for the state to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to 2000 levels by 2020 and 50% below 2000 levels by 2040. The state thus joins the ranks of a growing number that are tackling greenhouse gas emissions on their own without waiting for the Federal government.

Arizona’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by an estimated 56% between 1990 and 2005, and are currently projected to increase by an estimated 148% over 1990 levels by 2020.

The order focuses a great deal on transportation.

The order directs the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), in coordination with the Arizona Department of transportation (ADOT) to adopt and implement California’s Clean Car Program to require roughly a 30% cut in GHG emissions from new cars by 2016.

State agencies are also to develop standards for neat biodiesel, biodiesel blends and ethanol blends sold in Arizona, and to implement a pilot program to allow designated hybrids into HOV lanes.

The order also directs all state agencies, board and commissions to purchase only vehicles that are:

...hybrids, meet low-GHG emissions standards, or use E-85 fuel, biofuels or other low-GHG alternative fuels, with the goal that by january 1, 2010, all State vehicles shall be hybrids, meet low-GHG standards, or use E-85 fuel, biofuels or other low-GHG alternative fuels.

Certain state law enforcement vehicles are exempt from those requirements.

September 12, 2006 in Policy | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0)


TrackBack URL for this entry:

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Arizona Governor Issues Executive Order for Reduction of Greenhouse Gases; Focus on Transportation:


They will need to do a lot more than encourage alternative vehicles. They also need a plan to reduce and eliminate driving.

Reducing CO2 emissions by focusing on transportation is brain damaged when Arizona gets 45% of its electric power from coal-fired powerplants. The cost of avoiding a ton of emitted CO2 is nearly an order of magnitude lower for that sector.

Isn't Arizona very sunny..?!

Solar power should be just what the doctor ordered, for driving the air conditioning during daytime and charge batteries in PHEVs and BEVs (maybe not by 2010, but certainly later.

Eliminating some of the need for driving by urban planning is also a great idea.

They can try whatever they want,as long as we maintain an out of control population they're just throwing good money after bad.


I've been wondering if thermal storage would be a good replacement for the A/C in cars, or (in Arizona) a system using evaporative cooling.

"Arizona gets 45% of it's electric power from coal-fired powerplants"

This is an unfair characterization. Yes, 45% of the electricity that Arizona generates is from coal-fired plants. However, most of that electricity powers Las Vegas the LA basin and large chunks of Utah, New Mexico and Colarado. Most Arizona residents get their power form Hydro, wind, solar and Palo Verde.

Arizona is home to the largest nuclear power generating station in all of North America. It's called Palo Verde. Look it up. If AZ was serious about stopping CO2, they would let Palo Verde finish their build out, which was supposed to be 5 reactors (currently only 3 are built and running) and shut down the coal. There's also a ton of hydro power thanks to the Colorado river and many dams. Solar is also obviously a huge potential source, although the problem with solar is you would need to ruin billions of dollars worth of pristine desert preserve in order to put in enough solar collectors (be they PV or solar heat tower mirrors) to replace the tiny acreage needed for coal, natural gas, or nuclear.

The fact that the governor isn't addressing power shows this is nothing more than an election year ploy. Her election comes up in just two months from now.

Not only would they have to address electrical generation but the emissions from residential, commercial & industrial sectors as well. If you eliminated ALL cars in the entire state of Arizona and forced EVERYONE to walk, bike, or telecommute you would not even come close to a 50% best you would get a 30% reduction in overall CO2 emissions.

Well, hopefully its as lot better than nothing!

The Gov. made sure to include her E85 constituency exemption, too!

The governor is going through all the right motions to impress those who voted for her in the first place. Image is everything, style reigns supreme in politics. Who cares about what's really going on? As long as you can make it sound good, you're golden. 2020? 2040? That's pretty damned safe for a politician to sign in 2006! Nothing courageous about this lady.

Speaking of, I almost totally forgot that the census numbers show that a huge portion of the population growth in Arizona is undocumented immigrants. Is part of her plan to stop CO2 increases inclusive of shutting down the open border to illegals who come to Arizona and use their newfound income to burn more fossil fuels? I doubt it. That would require actual work and could have progress measured in the years she's still in office.

Sid said:


Desert - pristine - really?!?

Is it really worth "preserving" some desert in the middle of nowhere at the expense of a potential climate crisis? Yes, I realize there's still debate about the Greenhouse Effect, and yes, a crisis probably won't be severe before our children's time. But how pristine is the desert really, and isn't there a lot of it?

In my book desert is the least pristine kind of land of all.

But if you worry so much about keeping the desert as it is (apart from sprawling cities, highways, McDonald's, etc.) just place PVs on rooftops. Preferably on flat top roofs like malls. You are certainly not ruining any view there...

If you don't reduce CO2 just think of all the pristine desert you could have! :)

Harry Reid, the senator from Nevada stated that a 100 mile x 100 mile area could provide all the power the nation needed from the sun. I calculated that this might cost our whole GDP for one year, or more than $10T, but it is an interesting thought.

Well, a 100mile x 100mile area providing all the energy for the US would sure be an easier target for terrorists and hostile nations then the system we have now.

Desert - pristine - really?!?

After the Columbia space shuttle loss, they tried to find parts that had fallen off as it went over the southwest.

It turns out the deserts are just loaded with abandoned stuff. Cars, washing machines, miscellaneous trash. They gave up.

The insolation (incident solar energy) on the entire area of Arizona could power the entire United States and more if we had a near 100% efficient means of converting solar energy to electricity. At 15% to 20% efficiency with current solar, Arizona could generate all its own peak power needs plus a lot extra with plenty of space for natural preserves. See page 12 of this paper for map with area that shows how much area of the Sahara receives all the energy that the world's not a very big area:

As someone mentioned before, how about some urban planning as well. Phoenix claims it is the best planned city but in reality it is terrible and you have to drive everywhere. Put some city limits up and stop paving the whole desert...and then lets talk about transportation.

Let's give AZ a little credit, Phoenix is finally building a light rail system. 20 miles to start, with another 27 in the pipeline. I agree that this is largely political spin, though. A real effort to meet these goals would require:

-A full build out @ Palo Verde

-A mandate for new developments to use solar shingles, and tax credits for existing retrofits

-Subsidies to overcome the infrastructure problem plaguing E85/biodiesel adoption: let gas stations keep the fuel tax charged on alternative fuels until the cost of pump installation is amortized

-And most boldly, AZ should partner with a utility to build a full size solar chimney. As far as I can see, the only things holding back this proven concept are permitting and fear of being first. 200 perpetual fuel & CO2 free megawatts sounds like a winner to me.

Janet Napolitano, Harry Reid and Ralph Nader are all lawyers quilty of practicisng Engineering without a License.

They are collective idiots responsible for creating more
problems than any solutions.

Nader has killed tens of thousands with his dangerously overpowered airbags; that he himself forced onto US consumers,over the objections of the Engineering professionals. Every where else in the world, the engineers implaced lower, properly, powered non dangerous inflating charges for their airbags, but not ithe the USA thank you Mr. Nader-Killer.

Napolitano doesn't know that Arizona electric generation is extremely clean and mostly modern generating comparatively little GHG or pollution. A massive portion comes from cleran hydro or the worlds larhgest Nucler plat at Palo Verde. In fact the easiest way to meet her stupid standards is to merely shut down the export electricity market that feeds the numbnuts Envirokooks in California and Nevada that have frozen new development. There ther objections therough Jackass Lawyers liek Reid's firm, have the opposite effect and forced keeping generation going of literal dirty antique examples of electric generation powerplants. You couldn't find older antiques except in some third world cesspool, like Cuba.

In addition to the Envirokooks thank the cynical Jackass Lawyers masquerading as "Consumer Advocates" preventing the utilities from making the money necessary to build modern replacement plants. By their lights, it is ILLEGAL to save up to build a new plant or even invest in it until it operates. Harry Reid made his reputation that way in Nevada and started his political career on that basis.

Arizona Utilities should just shutoff the juice and let his constituents roast or freeze as the case maybe. They chose and voted for that Jackass, after all.

The there are the cynical lswyers representing the envirokooks, fighting every proposed siting of a possible new plants for whatevcer cockamaie reason they can dreamup, from sacred mountains, unspoiled desserts, sacred pits or endanged mosquitoes, louseworts, endangered packrats or mudeaters.

Here Harry Reid and his cohorts really excel. His wealth comes from just such representation.

Isn't it truly appropriate that the chosen symbol of their political party, fits these three lawyerly examples so well. It just goes to show that you can even teach a JACKASS to be a Democrat lawyer.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment


Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment



Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.


Post a comment
