It was another sweltering day in Phoenix, and Tommy Espinoza, an Arizona native and president and CEO of Raza Development Fund, knew something was different. He was right. While Arizona’s summers have always been hot, August 2020 was the hottest month ever recorded in Phoenix, and the city’s temperatures topped 110 degrees for more than 50 days in 2020.
“[T]here are times when they close the airports and ask people not to go out. We have offices downtown, and I’ve crossed the street when the black tar moves beneath you since it’s 119–20 degrees. You cannot ignore this anymore. I was not a big climate change believer but now you’ve got to say, wait a minute, you really cannot ignore this,” Espinoza said.
by David Jacobs, The Center Square | February 11, 2021 11:00 AM Print this article
Offshore oil exploration can go hand-in-hand with President Joe Biden’s stated goals of reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change, Louisiana officials argued Wednesday.
State government and business leaders said they are deeply concerned about the federal government’s current 60-day moratorium on oil production on federal land and water, and about what regulations will be imposed on the industry after the moratorium ends. For Louisiana, the main concerns have to do with offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, a Baton Rouge Republican, was one of several speakers at Wednesday’s joint meeting of the state House and Senate natural resources committees who said offshore oil production in U.S. waters has a small effect on overall carbon emissions compared with other sources, especially oil and gas from other countries wi