Arizona Candidates for State Senate Dist 4 - Not much Green in Energy Policy
Stafford Williamson
August 26, 2006
Green is an uphill battle here in the desert. Duh, I can almost hear you saying. But it is not quite as simple as the fact that here in Arizona the desert is hot and dry, not an ideal growing environment at first glance. But you would be mistaken if you thought that was the end of the story.
In practice, we have nearly 300 days of sunshine, and very rarely cold enough for frost, so lots of plants like it here pretty well. Not all of them are vegetables or retirees, either. With sufficient water, this is a lush environment. Like the fertile Nile valley, hot and dry with available water, we grow lots of cotton. We have citrus crops in abundance, except where they are being torn down to erect huge shopping centers and sports stadiums. And in spite of the heat from the conservative elements, we have a fertile environment for the encouragement of alternative energy. So fertile that we have a history to overcome.
You see our previous governor signed into law an “alternative fuel” bill that offered incentives to buy alternative fuel “capable” vehicles. It became a massive boondoggle that nearly bankrupted the state. Whole fleets of supposedly alternative fuel vehicles were bought by businesses, as well as some wealthy citizens, in the heavy SUV class, and “light” trucks. The tax advantage was unbelievably good for the buyers. The law was unbelievably bad for the citizens of Arizona. There was not actual requirement that these vehicles EVER be operated using the alternative fuel capabilities. Oh, and as a bonus, they got to use the HOV communter lanes on the freeways, during rush hours, too.
So when I asked, at a recent town hall meeting for our local political candidates, “Arizona is woefully behind other states in alternative fuels and green energy development and legislation. What programs do you support in these areas that will mitigate global warming?” The results, or rather the answers were political at best, coupled with what amounted to long-winded evasions, attacks and finger pointing.
What was I thinking? They are politicians. They seem to think that the only way to get elected, or to stay in office is to do the minimum, say the minimum and mean even less than what they say.
If you are actually interested in the local politics in Arizona and the city of Peoria in particular, I can tell you that the “big winner” of the panel discussion was one Patricia Boehlke (pronounced “Bellkey”, as she conveniently translates on all of her campaign signs). She may not win the election in which she is a candidate, Arizona House of Representatives, if voters can’t bring themselves to cross political party lines. She has the disadvantage (in Arizona, historically) of being a Democratic party candidate. But she was clearly the favorite of the crowd on Wednesday night, because she actually made a few bold statements that sounded like good ideas.
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY CANDIDATES for DISTRICT 4 in ARIZONA
The “big news” of the night was that I am pretty sure that although both Republican candidates resorted to negative mudslinging, that incumbent Senator Jack Harper came off the worse of the two, while Bill Whalen (pronounced like “wailin’ ”) looked like a clear winner. No, not so much from the fact that he made better points or even had better policies, for that you had to look to the ‘dark horse’ Democrat Dr. Gogek, not that he has any real chance. No, Bill Whalen looked like the winner, because he looked like the winner. There was an unmistakable air about him (and I don’t just mean the stench of politics). He reminded me strongly of last election’s gubernatorial candidate, now Governor Janet Napolitano. When she came into the room, and from then until she left, you could tell that she was already working from the position of strength. She was operating as if she already was the next governor of the state. She spoke like she was making policy pronouncements not empty campaign promises. Coming from a prior term in elected office, she knew how the government works, and she had the confidence to know how to get things done. She didn’t have the incumbent advantage, she had the advantage of believing in herself, or knowing that she was going to be doing the job, so she had a realistic perspective on what had to be done.
Has Napolitano been the states best governor in decades? Possibly, especially if you are willing to overlook her “flaw” of being a non-Republican (not being a member of the GOP is generally not an asset among Arizona’s conservative minded electorate). Will Bill Whalen be the next Arizona Senator from District 4? Time will tell, but I’m predicting a victory in his primary election, and it is pretty clear sailin’ for Whalen from there. (Sorry, sometimes I just can’t resist.)
If you would like to take a look at the actual statements on Green Energy plans and policies (yuck, since there isn’t much of anything positive said there), take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObE3evJCPrY for some of the gory details.
All politics is local. ("Are local"?) But you have to act locally to affect the global environment. The answers to the mitigating global warming are not coming from the politicians. Perhaps, "We, the people" should be informing them that we want a greener policy. The USAF has been particularly lax in following directives on "green energy" policy. They need to be thinking about environmentally friendly aviation fuels, and it is possible to make JP-8 from bio-diesel sources, including my personal favorite, sewage, zoo manure, dairy farm manure and municipal landscape clippings. Since municipal level politicians seem to suffer from NIMBY-itis (Not In My Back Yard, please) we need to be putting all politicians' feet to the fire on this issue.
We don't all need to be Jaques Cousteau. We don't all need to be in lock-step with the Sierra Club (please, not that). But every voice and every vote needs to be heard this election year. Tell them where you stand, and stand firm on election day.
love
Stafford "Doc" Williamson
In practice, we have nearly 300 days of sunshine, and very rarely cold enough for frost, so lots of plants like it here pretty well. Not all of them are vegetables or retirees, either. With sufficient water, this is a lush environment. Like the fertile Nile valley, hot and dry with available water, we grow lots of cotton. We have citrus crops in abundance, except where they are being torn down to erect huge shopping centers and sports stadiums. And in spite of the heat from the conservative elements, we have a fertile environment for the encouragement of alternative energy. So fertile that we have a history to overcome.
You see our previous governor signed into law an “alternative fuel” bill that offered incentives to buy alternative fuel “capable” vehicles. It became a massive boondoggle that nearly bankrupted the state. Whole fleets of supposedly alternative fuel vehicles were bought by businesses, as well as some wealthy citizens, in the heavy SUV class, and “light” trucks. The tax advantage was unbelievably good for the buyers. The law was unbelievably bad for the citizens of Arizona. There was not actual requirement that these vehicles EVER be operated using the alternative fuel capabilities. Oh, and as a bonus, they got to use the HOV communter lanes on the freeways, during rush hours, too.
So when I asked, at a recent town hall meeting for our local political candidates, “Arizona is woefully behind other states in alternative fuels and green energy development and legislation. What programs do you support in these areas that will mitigate global warming?” The results, or rather the answers were political at best, coupled with what amounted to long-winded evasions, attacks and finger pointing.
What was I thinking? They are politicians. They seem to think that the only way to get elected, or to stay in office is to do the minimum, say the minimum and mean even less than what they say.
If you are actually interested in the local politics in Arizona and the city of Peoria in particular, I can tell you that the “big winner” of the panel discussion was one Patricia Boehlke (pronounced “Bellkey”, as she conveniently translates on all of her campaign signs). She may not win the election in which she is a candidate, Arizona House of Representatives, if voters can’t bring themselves to cross political party lines. She has the disadvantage (in Arizona, historically) of being a Democratic party candidate. But she was clearly the favorite of the crowd on Wednesday night, because she actually made a few bold statements that sounded like good ideas.
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY CANDIDATES for DISTRICT 4 in ARIZONA
The “big news” of the night was that I am pretty sure that although both Republican candidates resorted to negative mudslinging, that incumbent Senator Jack Harper came off the worse of the two, while Bill Whalen (pronounced like “wailin’ ”) looked like a clear winner. No, not so much from the fact that he made better points or even had better policies, for that you had to look to the ‘dark horse’ Democrat Dr. Gogek, not that he has any real chance. No, Bill Whalen looked like the winner, because he looked like the winner. There was an unmistakable air about him (and I don’t just mean the stench of politics). He reminded me strongly of last election’s gubernatorial candidate, now Governor Janet Napolitano. When she came into the room, and from then until she left, you could tell that she was already working from the position of strength. She was operating as if she already was the next governor of the state. She spoke like she was making policy pronouncements not empty campaign promises. Coming from a prior term in elected office, she knew how the government works, and she had the confidence to know how to get things done. She didn’t have the incumbent advantage, she had the advantage of believing in herself, or knowing that she was going to be doing the job, so she had a realistic perspective on what had to be done.
Has Napolitano been the states best governor in decades? Possibly, especially if you are willing to overlook her “flaw” of being a non-Republican (not being a member of the GOP is generally not an asset among Arizona’s conservative minded electorate). Will Bill Whalen be the next Arizona Senator from District 4? Time will tell, but I’m predicting a victory in his primary election, and it is pretty clear sailin’ for Whalen from there. (Sorry, sometimes I just can’t resist.)
If you would like to take a look at the actual statements on Green Energy plans and policies (yuck, since there isn’t much of anything positive said there), take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObE3evJCPrY for some of the gory details.
All politics is local. ("Are local"?) But you have to act locally to affect the global environment. The answers to the mitigating global warming are not coming from the politicians. Perhaps, "We, the people" should be informing them that we want a greener policy. The USAF has been particularly lax in following directives on "green energy" policy. They need to be thinking about environmentally friendly aviation fuels, and it is possible to make JP-8 from bio-diesel sources, including my personal favorite, sewage, zoo manure, dairy farm manure and municipal landscape clippings. Since municipal level politicians seem to suffer from NIMBY-itis (Not In My Back Yard, please) we need to be putting all politicians' feet to the fire on this issue.
We don't all need to be Jaques Cousteau. We don't all need to be in lock-step with the Sierra Club (please, not that). But every voice and every vote needs to be heard this election year. Tell them where you stand, and stand firm on election day.
love
Stafford "Doc" Williamson
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