If Arizona still needs a 600-mile gas pipeline in 2029, we’re all cooked | Letters

Arizona is going to get more natural gas from a new Texas pipeline. That’s a big mistake.

Building a new 600-mile-long gas pipeline from Texas to Arizona is not looking to the future (“A giant natural gas pipeline is the biggest story in Arizona that we all ignored”). 

It’s a win for the fossil fuel industry and climate deniers who have hampered progress, both technically and politically, for almost 50 years. 

The incentives in Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and other legislation were set to greatly expand renewables in terms of manufacturing and affordability, but Donald Trump and reactionary Republicans in Congress are actively favoring coal, oil and gas like there’s no climate crisis. 

We are forfeiting a major industry of the future to the rest of the world, especially China.

It’s rich that the very people who’ve hamstrung clean energy for decades protest that wind, solar and batteries aren’t ready to replace fossil fuels, even though they are now cheaper up front and won’t contribute to floods, hurricanes, fires and crop failures.

Public utilities should serve the public, and that includes future generations. 

Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power may know how to keep the lights and AC on for now, but they have done their part to set back our climate future.

If we need a 600-mile gas pipeline in 2029, that’s proof we have failed our children and grandchildren.

Andrew March, Phoenix

Pipeline tells us the dinosaurs are in charge

Yes, building a 600-mile pipeline does say volumes about Arizona: That the utilities and fossil fuel industry run our energy policy and to an extent, public policy.

In the state that should be leading the nation in solar energy, our utilities instead choose to expand the use of fossil fuels. If completed, this pipeline would not be in operation for at least another four years. 

Solar could be online much sooner and have a far smaller impact on the environment.

The dinosaurs (figurative and literal) are in charge.

Steven L Klein, Laveen

Arizona’s roadless areas need protecting

With the current administration provoking job cuts, rollbacks and chaos, we’ve overlooked an important issue.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced in June the rollback of the “Roadless Rule” that prohibits construction of roads in about 30% of our national forests.

In Arizona, roadless areas include part of the Chiricahua Mountains in the Coronado National Forest, Cherry Creek in Tonto National Forest and other areas. 

These are special protected places for enjoying unspoiled nature. Road construction brings noise and increased fire risk — four times the risk, according to analysis by the Wilderness Society. It also brings habitat destruction.

As a licensed mental health therapist in Arizona for more than 35 years, I have witnessed the profound effects of wilderness on the mental health of our residents. 

According to the Mayo Clinic, exposure to natural environments can reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. Being able to experience these places can lower the risk for chronic disease, illness, depression and PTSD.

Let Congress know that allowing road construction in pristine wildlands is not OK. We must preserve these areas for their beauty and for our health and wellbeing.

Lynette Nelson, Phoenix

What motivates Arizona conservatives on solar?

I applaud the solar project cited in Andy Tobin’s op-ed column, “Arizona can’t afford to leave large swaths of federal land idle.”

That there was big bipartisan support for Gosar’s bill to cede the federal land to La Paz County for the project attests to the project’s value.

More letters: It’s called ‘No Labels Party’ for a reason. Don’t change it

The only question I have regarding the drive by Tobin and Gosar to realize the project is this: Do they have a financial interest in it?

Fred Raymond, Goodyear

Drug use has an impact on police officers

The latest update to the City of Phoenix’s Substance Use & Overdose Dashboard shows a disturbing trend in “suspected opioid overdoses.”  

Overdoses seem destined to reach more than 5,500 this year, where the past high was 4,554 in 2023. While this may indicate a success of sorts in the fire department’s use of naloxone as an opioid overdose antidote, it is also an indicator of stress on our fire and police departments.  

That stress comes from directly responding to deadly overdose situations and indirectly dealing with heat deaths, traffic deaths, crime and homelessness that drugs cause.

Jim McManus, Phoenix

Bridge collapse conjures a terrifying memory

I’m writing about the article on the Oxbow Bridge collapse (“Oxbow Bridge collapse a serious public safety threat, Arizona officials warn”). 

It reminded me of a time in 1969 when I was 6 and my little brother was 3. My Dad loved to go for drives, and on this one my Mom and us kids were in the back seat. I was in the middle. 

We were somewhere in the Arizona desert when we went over an old bridge, and it suddenly collapsed while we were on it. 

The fall was far enough that it deflated all four tires on our 1968 Camaro SS. The fall was also far enough that it knocked all of my front teeth out. My brother was asleep and almost bit his tongue off. 

I don’t remember how, but we made it out of there. I hadn’t thought about it until this article about the Oxbow Bridge collapse.

I had to share the story because I don’t know if there are any other old bridges out in the Arizona desert.

Kimberly Crane, Glendale

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