OPINION: From Extreme Heat to Solar Power: Why Arizona’s Clean Energy Future Matters in This Election

Earlier this year, I became a citizen. Now that early voting has begun, I’ll soon cast my vote in a US presidential election for the first time. As a Phoenix resident who’s worked in environmental justice and clean energy for more than five years, I’m thrilled to vote in an election in which these issues are on the ballot in such a big way.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene on states across the East Coast. Here in Arizona, we also regularly experience the impacts of climate change, mostly in the form of extreme heat: Arizona’s average temperature has risen by about two degrees since the early 2000s.

Exposure to extreme heat has very real effects on human health, including heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat stroke, and death. Outdoor workers, older Americans, and low-income communities face elevated health risks from extreme heat. Latinos are 21% more likely than non-Hispanic whites to live in urban heat islands. The EPA estimates that Latinos are more than 40% more likely to live where it will frequently be too hot to work a full day outside.

During the summer, many families face tough choices about whether they can afford to cool their homes: Close to 40% of Latino households say they are unable to pay their electricity bills. That’s why we need to invest in clean energy and give American families options for how to affordably cool their homes, cook dinner, and drive their kids to soccer practice.

Arizona ranks second in the nation for solar energy potential, and the industry is ramping up in our state. New solar and wind energy investments will help reduce energy costs in Arizona, as the costs of solar and wind power in the state are projected to drop by 22% and 34%, respectively, over the next 30 years.

In my home state of Arizona, many of the low-income people of color hardest hit by the climate crisis live in rural parts of the state like La Paz, one of Arizona’s most rural, remote communities. La Paz has a 20.3% poverty rate and is 17.5% Native American and 27.6% Hispanic/Latino. Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan, the Ten West Link project is slated to create 365 union construction jobs, modernizing the energy infrastructure in the area while also strengthening grid reliability, improving efficiency, and lowering energy costs for consumers.

This 2024 cycle, we have a leader who supports the future of clean energy. Kamala Harris has been a champion for investments in clean energy jobs, innovation, and energy efficiency throughout her career. As vice president, Harris cast the deciding vote to advance the Democrats’ clean energy plan, which has delivered more than 330,000 clean energy jobs in communities across the country to date—including more than 18,000 jobs and $11 billion in investment here in Arizona. This summer, The Biden-Harris administration also announced new rules to protect 36 million workers from extreme heat and substantially reduce heat injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the workplace.

Vice President Kamala Harris has long been a tireless advocate for clean air and water for all. As California Attorney General, Harris defended critical laws protecting clean air and clean water, including the Clean Power Plan, and in the Senate, she authored legislation protecting clean water and replacing lead pipes that were later passed into law as part of the Democrats’ clean energy plan. As vice president, Harris has championed the administration’s push to replace lead pipes and upgrade water infrastructure. 

Donald Trump’s Project 2025 threatens to decimate our clean energy progress, killing jobs and eliminating tax credits for green energy projects created by the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan. Trump doesn’t seem to care that low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately affected by pollution and extreme weather, while Kamala Harris helped implement the administration’s historic Justice40 Initiative, which allocates 40% of the benefits of federal climate and clean energy investments flow to communities marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

The Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan made historic investments in environmental justice here in Arizona, awarding $30 million to the EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Program, which has funded a number of critical projects in Arizona. 

In Tucson, Amistades Inc. received $500,000 for the Justicia Juntos project to engage and inform Latino residents about the urban heat island effect, build capacity to respond to extreme heat events and advocate for environmental justice issues specific to their neighborhoods, and create access to resources and adaptive strategies that help them stay safe, cool, and bring temperatures down.

These are important investments that will make communities across Arizona stronger, safer, and more resilient. We need to continue to invest in these communities and others like them—not turn our backs on them, as Trump would do.

I’ll never take for granted the right to weigh in on the issues that matter deeply to me at the ballot box. When it comes to climate and clean energy, the choice couldn’t be clearer: Kamala Harris will take us forward, while Donald Trump will take us backward.