TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Bruce Plenk tries to reduce carbon emissions in Tucson as much as he can. One of the ways he tries to do that is by using an electric car.
The City of Tucson is hoping their operations become carbon-neutral by the year 2030 and is hoping the entire city is carbon-neutral by 2045.
“I don’t see any issue with that at all assuming TEP cooperates,” Plenk said about the City’s plan.
The City of Tucson said even with their plan, carbon emissions can still go up by the year 2030, but said they would be higher without their plan.
RELATED: Where to vote in Prop 412 Special Election
The City is holding a special election on Tuesday, asking Tucsonans whether they feel like the City should enter a 25-year agreement with TEP to put power lines underground.
However, Plenk said he doesn’t think they should prioritize that.
“The important thing is dealing with important climate change here in Tucson,” he said.
As for the election, he said the City rushed it.
“There needs to be a much more open discussion about the procedure to choose where under grounding takes place,” Plenk said.
The City did ask Tucsonans about their climate action plan from February to May of 2021.
If Prop 412 did pass, part of the money from the new fee would go towards the City’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan which includes plans to install more electric charging stations and expand green infrastructure throughout the city.
Even though Plenk said he’s voting no on Prop 412, he does agree with the City’s climate plan.
“They’re putting some serious money into the climate plan but there needs to be more,” he said.
So far the City says only about 22 percent of voters have sent in ballots.
Bob Cook is one of those voters. He’s the commissioner of the Pima County Planning and Zoning department and also tries to reduce his carbon footprint outside of work.
He believes 2045 is too late for Tucson to become carbon neutral and said the City’s plans to install underground power lines won’t help towards their goal.
“If that comes at the cost of investing in the de-carbonization of our grid then I think it’s an extravagant expense,” he said.
On average, the City says the new fee would add about a dollar a month for homes and up to $4 thousand for large organizations.
While he’s voting no, Cook said he does agree with putting more money into the City’s climate plan.
“We need to have a much more aggressive stance on actually implementing,” he said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
