Agencies and energy providers in Arizona are taking action to slow the increase in greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state.
Benjamin Grumbles, director of Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, said reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution is part of the state’s focus to prevent climate change.
“What we know is the climate is changing and we need to take important steps to prepare for that,” Grumbles said.
Addressing the need for such steps, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health.
Lisa P. Jackson, administrator for the EPA, said the findings are based on a vast body of evidence that points to an unprecedented rise in greenhouse gases.
“Greenhouse gases from human activity are increasing at unprecedented rates and are adversely affecting our environment and threatening our health,” Jackson said.
The EPA lists six greenhouses gases as the largest contributors to the problem: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride, according to a statement.
Effects on Arizona
Nationally, there has been a 19 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions between 1990 and 2007, the most recent data available, according to an Environment Arizona report on Arizona’s carbon dioxide emissions released in November.
At 61 percent, Arizona has seen the largest increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the country, according to the report.
Bret Fanshaw, an Environment Arizona associate, said 90 percent of the state’s carbon dioxide emissions are the result of transportation and electricity generation.
“We are seeing large amounts of carbon dioxide pollution in the state from coal-fired power plants and transportation,” Fanshaw said.
Emissions caused by power generation
Electricity generation is the largest contributor to pollution, with more than 54 percent of the state’s carbon emissions in 2007, according to the report.
Fanshaw said Arizona ranks 14th in the nation for most carbon dioxide pollution from power plants in 2007. The majority of these emissions come from burning coal, oil and natural gas for power, he said.
“In Arizona we have the eighth most polluted power plant in the country,” Fanshaw said.
Navajo Generating Station, a coal-fired generating plant near Page, Ariz., has been operating since 1974 and releases more than 20 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, according to an Environment Arizona report on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The amount of carbon dioxide released by the plant is the equivalent to what 3.5 million cars produce in a year, according to the report.
Fanshaw said the emissions contribute to health problems, lower air quality and raise global temperatures. Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, releasing more pollution per unit of energy than any other source of fuel used in power generation, he said.
Salt River Project owns a 21 percent stake in the Navajo Generating Station, said Glen Reeves, manager of power generation for the Salt River Project.
Reeves said coal is used as a base power source because it is the most abundant.
“The challenge is to learn how to burn and utilize coal in an environmentally acceptable standard,” Reeves said.
Scot Harelson, SRP spokesman, said the company has already taken and will continue to take the necessary steps to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
SRP is investing in projects to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions through the Electric Power Research Institute, an independent nonprofit research organization.
Harelson said SRP is also increasing reliance on renewable energy sources under a state mandate to receive 15 percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources by 2025.
It is investigating renewable energy resources including solar, wind and geothermal power, he said, and SRP recently completed the first wind farm in Arizona capable of producing 62 megawatts of power, Harelson said.
Problems with renewable energy sources
However, there are still problems with renewable energy sources, Reeves said.
For example, the wind farm only generated 3 megawatts of energy on Dec. 1, he said.
This highlights an inherit problem in renewable sources of energy, Reeves said, since they are not always available and come at high costs.
“We need power generation 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year,” Reeves said.
Although renewable sources are not going to meet all of the state’s energy needs, it is important every viable renewable project be built in order to decrease dependence on fossil fuels, he said.
“There is no single silver bullet answer out there,” Reeves said.
“Solving our country’s energy needs is going to require a portfolio of solutions.”
Grumbles said while it is imperative for the state to research renewable electricity, fossil fuels and nuclear power must continue to be used to support the state’s energy infrastructure.
“Coal is very important to the state’s energy mix,” he said.
Reducing transportation’s carbon dioxide emissions
Jackson said greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles have contributed to the increase.
“[Monday’s] announcement is the prerequisite for strong new emissions standards for cars and trucks,” she said.
Fanshaw said about 36 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the state come from transportation, a huge factor contributing to the brown cloud over Phoenix.
Public transportation, like the light rail, is helping but there needs to be an increased support for public transportation, he said.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has aided in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from transportation through vehicle travel reduction programs, vehicle emissions standards and incentives for communities to increase public transit, Grumbles said.
“[Arizona] is unique, we have centralized emissions stations,” Grumbles said. “It can be a headache for motorists, but it also makes a tangible and real difference in terms of a reduction of air pollution in Arizona.”
Other state agencies, including the Maricopa Association of Governments and the Arizona Department of Transportation, are taking necessary measures to reduce emissions from transportation.
Lindy Bauer, environmental manager for the Maricopa Association of Governments, said it is the designated agency for regional air quality management.
The state is fortunate to have measures that have been in place for years to help control carbon dioxide emissions, Bauer said.
By increasing the availability of public transportation, the state can decrease the number of cars on the road, she said.
“The light rail and bus systems are very good because they help reduce the number of vehicles on the road,” she said.
Carbon dioxide emissions in the future
Research has shown the safe limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million, Fanshaw said. Currently the atmosphere contains between 388 and 390 parts per million.
Never in the past million years has the world experienced carbon dioxide levels of this concentration in the atmosphere, he said.
Jackson said an increase in the accumulation of carbon dioxide will have adverse effects on the environment.
“The accumulation of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, the poor, the elderly — that can increase ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses,” Jackson said.
In Arizona, an increased temperature could lead to an increase in desertification, causing more evaporation and leaving less water in the system, Fanshaw said.
Arizona’s plan to control climate change will focus on principles laid out by Gov. Jan Brewer this year, Grumbles said.
This includes constructive engagement with programs that focus on the Western Climate Initiative and research and development of renewable technologies while maintaining a focus on cost effectiveness and competition, he said.
“We are staying engaged in the climate change debate while promoting solar energy and other green jobs,” Grumbles said.
The EPA and President Barack Obama publicly support legislation for a solution to climate change.
There is only one conclusion to gather from the vast amount of evidence on climate change, Jackson said.
“Greenhouse gases from human activity are increasing at unprecedented rates and are adversely affecting our environment and threatening our health,” she said.
Reach the reporter at rvanvelz@asu.edu.
