Silicon Valley Bank on Monday said it plans to provide at least $5 billion by 2027 in loans, investments and other financing to support sustainability efforts.
Locals are familiar with extended days of extreme heat in the summer – but they might not realize the average temperature in Phoenix has increased 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1970s, according to Climate Central. The rising heat, along with the ongoing megadrought and persistently poor air quality, are driving issues behind how the country’s fifth-largest city plans to address climate change.
Arizona voters increasingly recognize climate change as a crisis and strongly support actions to shift the state’s investments away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy sources and technologies, according to a new poll released today by the American Lung Association.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Corporation Commission is scheduled to vote on a package of updated clean energy rules that is years in the making. The package now under consideration, which benefits from several recent amendments, is the product of an extensive and bipartisan stakeholder process with significant support from individuals and businesses large and small from across Arizona. Most importantly, these rules allow Arizona to remain competitive with other states by providing the type of robust clean energy commitment that businesses demand before bringing jobs and substantial investment into a state while at the same time providing key protections to make sure the public does not pay more for clean energy.
After more than five years of wrangling, Arizona regulators are poised to approve new green-energy standards for state-regulated utilities that supporters say are needed to slow global warming and keep the air clean of unhealthy fossil-fuel emissions.
Arizona’s economy is booming. Even with the Covid economic downturn, Arizona’s economy is making steady gains. A recent study by University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management found that Arizona’s recovery from the pandemic gained significant momentum in the second quarter of 2021, with jobs, home sales, and construction showing strong upward trajectories.
The US House passed President Biden’s Build Back Better Act (BBBA), heavily supported by the Arizona Technology Council, sending the jobs and climate measures to the U.S. Senate. The BBBA is the most significant investment in clean energy and remedies to counteract climate change in U.S. history.
Congress is now debating legislation that could unleash $115 billion in new investments for Arizona, securing our state’s position as a national leader in clean energy innovation and ensuring a growing economy for generations of Arizonans to come. But none of this will happen if Sen. Kyrsten Sinema doesn’t support strong clean energy investments in the Build Back Better Act.
SRP announced a new program for residential and small business customers interested in supporting large-scale solar energy growth, called “Solar Choice.” Customers enrolled in SRP Solar Choice can choose to offset half or all their energy use with clean, solar power energy by paying as little as a half a cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on top of their current monthly price plan with SRP.
The 360-degree view of Phoenix atop Piestewa Peak is the ultimate reward for hikers like me who trek to the top. It also showcases the disparities in Phoenix neighborhoods: Some filled with lush trees and landscaping, others with gravel and palm trees.