NAZCCA celebrates eighth year bringing climate activism to N. Arizona

The Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance (NAZCCA) has been integral to regional development efforts since 2016. "Given the rapid progression of the climate crisis, we recognized the need to combine climate science expertise and efforts of climate activists in the City of Flagstaff," said founding NAZCCA Board member Dr. Stefan Sommer, "our group of experts and concerned citizens began approaching City Council with concerns about climate change, sustainability, and unnecessary sprawl." The group has now grown to over 13,000 supporters regionally, with over 14,000 in Northern Arizona having signed NAZCCA petitions expressing their concern about climate change and our need to reduce carbon emissions.

NAZCCA's approach from the start was that ordinary citizens need increasingly to take the lead in N. Arizona cities to push politicians to prepare for changes coming from changes in the climate while bringing under control those factors making for climate change. "People stepping up are the backbone of our organization," Beverly Hedden from Cottonwood emphasizes.

NAZCCA's high-impact approach to accelerate city-level climate action began when Rolf vom Dorp, Marja Ahola, Dee Hoagland, and other NAZCCA members supported Flagstaff executive leadership in their efforts to develop a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan in 2017. A unanimous City Council passed this plan in November of 2018. With continued encouragement from NAZCCA and other environmental groups, the City Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2020 and ratified the Carbon Neutrality Plan (CNP) in 2021. The CNP sets the goal for Flagstaff to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The net zero by 2030 goal also became part of Flagstaff's Regional Plan, requiring new development proposals to help the city reach that goal. This is the basis for a sustainable future for Flagstaff, and NAZCCA wholeheartedly supports smart, net-zero development for our community. Other communities are setting similar goals, with cities like Copenhagen, Denmark, setting the goal of net zero by 2025 and cities like Aspen, CO, Georgetown, TX, and Burlington, VT, already achieving 100% renewable energy. By 2016, there were already 479 LEED-certified buildings in Arizona, and Flagstaff had two LEED Platinum-certified buildings built in 2007 and 2008. In 2017, the US Army built the Weed Community Hospital in the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin. It is certified LEED Platinum and is also carbon neutral. The current standard for smart development is LEED Zero Carbon, and this is now being met by new buildings in Arizona, such as the DPR Construction's new Regional Office in Phoenix. This kind of smart development will allow Flagstaff to reach its net zero goal, and NAZCCA sees it as a critical part of solving our climate crisis.

From the beginning, NAZCCA scientists and activists realized that affecting policy was not enough to address the climate emergency. They knew that many people did not understand the science of climate change and that education would need to be a crucial part of their efforts. So, starting in 2017, Dr. Sommer, meteorologist Darren McCollum, and other NAZCCA members began making public presentations on how human actions were causing climate change, the consequences, and how we could mitigate these effects.

Jill Stephenson, Jenna Ortega, Hoagland, Sommer, and others also provided climate science education for Flagstaff-area middle and high schools. Educational demonstrations were also developed for Earth Day and other community events.

These educational efforts have also culminated in a monthly column in the Arizona Daily Sun called "Spotlight on Climate," which has been running for the last three years. While Sommer serves as editor and primary author, 21 other scientists have also written columns on different aspects of climate science and solutions, including Darrel Kauffman, Tom Whitham, Tom Acker, John Fegyveresi, Tom Kolb, Pete Fulé, Clare Aslan, Erik Nielsen, Kitty Gehring, Richard Hereford, and others. You can find these at www.nazcca.org/spotlight-on-climate.

NAZCCA's public presentations are ongoing, and you can view the recent series "Climate Talks for Everyone" at https://www.nazcca.org/speaker-series-climate-talks-for-everyone. Local scientists and community members have also made these presentations with a wide range of expertise, including Sommer, McCollum, Frances Riemer, Adam Shimoni, David Spence, Marco Alatorre, Kim Curtis, Rod Parnell, Lindsey Falkenburg, Greg Murray, Bill Manteiga, Katharina Maier, Bill McKibben, and others.

Of course, climate policy and education aren't enough, either. Climate change is already well underway. The Flagstaff community is now suffering from the effects of more frequent fires and flooding. Our monsoon downpours have gotten much more intense, and when the downbursts land on fire scars, the landscape cannot contain the floods. When 200-year and 400-year downpours fell on the Museum Fire and Radio Fire scars in the summer of 2021, the floods got so bad that cars were swept rapidly down our streets. Homes in the Greenlaw, Paradise, Sunnyside, and other neighborhoods needed help and NAZCCA members stepped forward to fill sandbags and help clean up debris.

In the last eight years, NAZCCA has integrated climate concerns into legislative budget conversations, zoning and permitting decisions, and regional planning efforts. NAZCCA's 14 Climate Action Teams are currently working to ensure that city stewardship of public capital, bicycle safety, fleet electrification, and many other activities are aligned with achieving a net-zero future as soon as possible.

In honor of its eighth anniversary, NAZCCA invites residents of Flagstaff, Sedona, Prescott, and Verde Valley to participate in local climate activism by signing a petition, attending an educational event, or joining the Earth Day celebration on April 20th, 2024, at Flagstaff's Bushmaster Park from 11AM to 2PM and NAU's Earth Jam that same day between 2PM and 5PM on the NAU North Quad.