Gary Gold, Policy Advisor to Senator Kyrsten Sinema provided the following remarks on a recent call with Arizona Businesses and Chambers of Commerce
Gary Gold:
I appreciate the opportunity to be here on behalf of Senator Sinema. As you know, my boss values our relationship with your groups, the chambers, and other folks on this call. And we appreciate our work together to boost jobs and to protect our natural resources at the same time.
Our approach to energy and natural resources has always been focused on Innovation. We recognize that economic growth and responsible stewardship of our natural resources are fundamentally connected. This approach is demonstrated in the number of initiatives that we are working on to address issues like wildfires and droughts, as well as energy security.
This year alone, Arizona has faced 1600 wildfires that have burned over 700K acres in our state. At the same time, as many of you know, we are in the midst of a 20-year drought in the Colorado River Basin and are looking at ways to get the most out of our water resources in the west. To address these issues, our team has been working on a bill that Senator Sinema introduced called the Drought Relief Through Innovative Projects Act (DRIP Act). Our bill will strengthen our water security and mitigate wildfire risk by helping communities remove and replace invasive plants that deplete groundwater and contribute to wildfires across the West.
We made some progress - language from the DRIP Act was included in the Water Resources Development Actthat passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee earlier this year. The Senate and House are now negotiating a final Water Bill that can pass both chambers. We are working hard to make sure the DRIP Act provisions are maintained and passed into law. This is an example of our work to use innovation to address drought and wildfire risk.
And as we work to expand business opportunities to secure Arizona’s Energy Future, Senator Sinema knows that we need to continue investing in solar energy research and development. Arizona currently ranks 3rd in the nation for the total amount of solar capacity installed and a solar industry that supports nearly 8000 Arizona jobs. Arizona leaders on both sides of the aisle recognize the solar industry’s potential for creating thousands of additional jobs and generating billions of dollars in investment. So,
Senator Sinema proudly introduced a bipartisan bill to capitalize on these solar opportunities - The Solar Energy and Research Development Act Is our bill to renew solar energy research at the Dept of Energy to fuel next generation solar technology.
Battery Storage is another area that needs additional investment, and our solar bill will help spur research into battery technology.
We’ve also been working to extend the Solar Investment Tax Credit for solar and other clean energy technologies to create economic stability and save jobs in Arizona. Senator Sinema co-sponsored bipartisan bills to extend the tax credit for clean energy technologies and this move, as you know, would save money for Arizona homeowners, which is critical at this time.
And a final energy initiative to highlight and to demonstrate our approach based on innovation is the Create Act of 2020 that Senator Sinema introduced in a bipartisan way, as she always does, with Senator Murkowski (R-AK). This bill supports direct air capture technologies to remove, store and utilize carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The bill was introduced, and we are hoping to get it into a bipartisan energy package.
So, that’s a very brief overview and some examples that highlight Senator Sinema’s approach which is centered on innovation and forward thinking to create opportunities in the energy and natural resources sectors.
I’m glad to provide more information now or offline on any of the bills and can answer any questions you have.
So, again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here on behalf of Senator Sinema, and we look forward to continuing our hard work together to get things done for Arizona. Thank you.
Moderator follow-up question: Gary, since we have so many businesses on the call today, I’m wondering if you could advise folks on how we could continue this conversation with Senator Sinema’s office on clean energy and economic development.
Gary Gold Response:Thank you. I think the best way is to continue to have open and direct conversations with me and our office so that we can listen to the ideas and challenges you have, and most importantly, to focus on where we can find common ground and get things done for Arizona. I advise the Senator on clean energy and natural resources, in addition to other issues, and if you have questions and ideas in those areas, I’m glad to be in touch to talk through and work on our challenges to make progress and create opportunities for Arizonans.