Blog Series: Are Public Lands a Part of the Climate Solution or Climate Problem?
Investing in Natural Spaces
In the second part of this series, Making the Switch, we explored Nevada’s efforts to utilize the Bureau of Land Management’s Western Solar Plan to produce solar energy on their public lands.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the United States’ dependency on electricity has grown exponentially. In 2017, the United States accounted for 17% of the world’s primary energy consumption. Our energy consumption lies in our dependency on electricity, industry, transportation, agriculture which relies on the use of fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and renewable energy resources. Over three quarters of our energy consumption is fueled by non-renewable sources, with natural gas accounting for 38% and coal accounting for 23% of electricity generation in 2019. According to the Center for American Progress, every 30 seconds, a football field worth of forests, grasslands, deserts, and other natural places disappear to development.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
Dependence on energy is even more important to consider in areas such as the Southwest where there is a growing demand on water, water delivery systems, and air conditioning to maintain livelihood within an arid environment and the modern economy. Our consumption of energy and a reliance on electricity presents complex challenges as we look to solutions for the world’s imminent climate crisis caused by greenhouse gas emissions. A range of solutions are needed, especially in arid places where climate impacts of heat and drought are felt profoundly by all living beings.
As of April 2019, Phoenix, Arizona is the second fastest warming city in the United States, having warmed by 4.35°F from 1970-2018. Increased heat and drought conditions has led to decreased snow-pack and run-off water going into growing metropolitan areas like Phoenix. This increase in heat and drought conditions will only continue as Phoenix is the fastest growing city in the United States. Residents of Phoenix have taken steps to mitigate the effects of drought, heat, a growing population and the urban heat island that plagues the city. The Edison-Eastlake community is one of three neighborhoods in Phoenix that are participating in a Heat Action Planning project which is a community-based effort to reduce heat and improve the ability of residents to deal with heat. The Edison-Eastlake, Lindo Park-Roesley Park, and Mesa Care neighborhoods are predominantly Latinx/Hispanic and Black communities and are some of the hottest and least green areas of Phoenix. This is just one example of how communities of color disproportionately experience the effects of climate change.
Phoenix is bordered to the northeast by the Tonto National Forest and to the southwest by the Sonoran Desert, which have the potential to supplement Phoenix’s plans to mitigate the effects of heat. The Tonto National Forest Land Management Plan is being updated from the current 1985 plan, and recognized within the Need for Change from the 1985 Plan are the threats to the forest due to climate change. The forest is at risk of increased fires due to higher temperatures and drought conditions in the area. In addition to the potential dangers directly to the forest, the plan takes into account the carbon-capturing abilities that forests have and the potential in mitigating climate change effects. Currently, forest growth and afforestation account for the offsetting of around 16% of emissions from burning fossil fuels.
The Arizona Sonoran Desert Heritage Act of 2018, introduced by Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva, would protect 900,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The Sonoran Desert spans through the southern part of Arizona and well into Mexico and is at risk because of climate change factors such as heat and drought in addition to the continued growth and development of Phoenix and it’s suburbs. The act would preserve the ecology, cultural heritage and recreational opportunities; allow for future renewable energy development; protect wildlife habitat and migration corridors; and ensure viability of nearby military facilities. Warm deserts have carbon capturing abilities that cannot be ignored in solutions for the climate crisis. The Saguaro Cactus is native to the Sonoran Desert and has significant abilities to sequester carbon as it grows.
Investing in natural spaces will play a major part in curbing the effects of emissions. Community-based efforts, such as the Heat Action Planning project, will be key to the sustainability of a city like Phoenix, but it is crucial to look to the effect that sustainably managed natural spaces have on mitigating heat and climate change, such as the new forest plan for the Tonto National Forest and the Arizona Sonoran Desert Heritage Act.
This blog is part of a series:
The Pressure is On
Making the Switch
Investing in Natural Spaces
Re-Connecting Landscapes