The Arizona House is about to vote on a totally insane bill that could prevent that state from doing even the tiniest smidgen of environmentally friendly work. Solar and wind projects that used a dollar of government funding would be made illegal. State universities could have to stop all sustainability-related research. State buildings wouldn’t even be able to use CFL lightbulbs.
The bill, SB 1507, has already passed the Senate, and the House has given it initial approval. The final House vote is coming on Monday. The bill would make it “illegal for any government entity in the state to abide by any tenet or principle” of the Rio Declaration, the Arizona Capitol Times reports. These are incredibly broad principles like, for instance, “enact effective environmental legislation.”
Think about that one for a second. If this bill passes, it will be illegal in Arizona to pass effective environmental legislation. (Ineffective? Hey, go for it!)
The craziest aspect of this bill may be its reason for existing at all. It’s a response to Bill Clinton’s decision in 1993 to implement the United Nation’s Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, using an executive order. Obviously that means that the Arizona is at risk of an imminent takeover by the United Nations! Or as the bill warns, “the United Nations has enlisted the support of numerous independent, shadow organizations to surreptitiously implement this agenda around the world.”
Gov. Jan Brewer hasn’t said if she’ll sign the bill or not. But there’s a very real possibility that Arizona’s entire government will no longer be able to do any work on environmental issues in the near future.
