Governor NapolitanoIn 2003 state government, firefighters, and local communities came together as never before to confront the quiet catastrophe of dry, overfueled forests. I convened a forest health summit in Prescott to bring together all stakeholders - including those who normally share no common ground in forest management. In addition, I directed that prison inmate crews work alongside local contractors to build fuel breaks and clear evacuation corridors around communities like Pine, Strawberry and Flagstaff.
"Western states are being particularly hard-hit by the effects of climate change," says Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D)
Every state will suffer the harsh effects of global warming if we fail to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So every state should take action to reduce those emissions.
We have already seen this with California, and Arizona’s governor Janet Napolitano signed an executive order that “establishes a statewide goal to reduce Arizona’s future GHG emissions to the 2000 emissions level by the year 2020, and to 50% below the 2000 level by 2040.”
Why not simply wait for action from President Bush? The ABC news headline summed up part of the answer to that question: “Arizona seeks to bypass Bush on CO2 emissions.” Equally important, the state faces many potentially dangerous climate impacts. The state is particularly vulnerable to climate change because it is already so hot and dry and drought-prone.
