Environmental advocates discuss the upcoming state legislative session

The new legislative session is right around the corner so we’re asking advocates what they hope to see from lawmakers this session. We spoke with business advocates on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we talked with environmental advocates Sandy Bahr, Director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, and Vania Guevara, Advocacy Deputy Director of Chispa Arizona.

Concerning overall priorities, water takes the top spot, according to Bahr.

“Water is the big priority for sure. We think that it’s way past time for the Arizona legislature to do something real about water. We are in an arid state. We know we have less water and we need to be conserving it a lot better instead of creating more loopholes which they’ve been doing for the last 20 years. It’s time to close them and to limit groundwater pumping and make sure has safe, adequate drinking water,” Bahr said.

“We just want these bills to be heard. Oftentimes, anything related to climate or environmental justice seems to be dead on arrival. And unfortunately, legislatures may not believe that climate change is happening or are sometimes put off by certain terminologies that we face. Anytime we mention environmental justice or anything about racial equity, it sort of falls on dead ears unfortunately,” Guevara said.