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Arizona Solar Center Blog

Commentary from Arizona Solar Center Board Members and invited contributors.

While blog entries are initiated by the Solar Center, we welcome dialogue around the posted topics. Your expertise and perspective are highly valued -- so if you haven't logged in and contributed, please do so!

Jim Arwood served six Arizona governors in various capacities managing federal energy programs, culminating in his appointment by then Governor Janet Napolitano, as Director of the State Energy Office in 2006. After nearly 25 years serving the state of Arizona, Mr. Arwood retired from government service in 2010 and today consults for a variety of energy related organizations. He also serves as Director of Communications for the Arizona Solar Center.

The Story of the Year is Fake

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”  --Winston Churchill

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Were these the good old days?

The future is not what it used to be.

In the 1990s, the push for electric vehicles gained momentum in response to national security concerns over our reliance on imported fuels and tailpipe emissions.

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There is No Plan(et) B

Climate change is no longer an issue that our politicians can kick down the road for someone else to deal with at some point in the future.

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High Noon

Nearly 40 years ago, President Carter proclaimed the dawn of the solar age. But that proclamation may have been a little premature.

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We are all frogs

The parable of the frog and boiling water is hundreds of years old. It has been used throughout history as a metaphor for circumstances in life when people are unable to see gradual change around them.

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The Politics of Climate Change

Four years ago the issue of climate change did not come up even once in the three presidential debates between President Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

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An erosion of principled responsibility

Whatever happened to Arizona’s support for policies to protect our environment? Where has our sense of environmental responsibility gone?

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A Burning Issue

This year the Tucson Solar Potluck will be celebrating the art of solar cooking for the 34th consecutive year with a gathering of solar chefs at Catalina State Park on April 30.

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Earth Day: Education at its roots

Earth Day is April 22nd.  This marks the 46th Earth Day, and over the years it has taken on many different meanings for many different people.

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The Promise of Solar

A decade ago Governor Napolitano asked me to present at an energy forum of the National Governors Association taking place in Wilmington, Delaware.

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The Energy Story of the 21st Century

The chaotic political season that has defined the 2016 presidential campaign experienced a jolt over the Presidents' Day weekend with the passing of Justice Scalia.

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The Times They Are a Changing (Redux)

This marks my 40th year working in the renewable energy space that is solar energy.

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The Two Faces of the Corporation Commission

It's not that I wanted to stay silent on the whole Corporation Commission mess...

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Climate Change Politics Heats Up

In the Spring of 1987, Ray Harm sat on the veranda of his solar-powered ranch house on the edge of arroyo in Browns Canyon -- explaining climate change to me.

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Thanksgiving Reflections

When you have been involved in this industry for five decades, it’s hard to look at where solar energy is today -- compared to where it was in the 1970s -- and not be thankful.

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What a long strange solar trip it's been. . .

The modern era of the solar energy movement can be traced to the late 1970s.

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Voices

Two years ago the Arizona Solar Center asked me to write this blog as a way to give a voice to people that didn't have a voice in the looming battle over rooftop solar.

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White Flag or Ruse?

In February 2014, the Arizona Republic's Ryan Randazzo wrote about a plan drafted by a political consulting group commissioned by the state's largest utility "to help APS change or alter the Arizona Corporation Commission".

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We're Number 1: The Only State Without An Energy Office

This past month Arizonans witnessed the dismantling of its Energy Office in what was described as a budget saving move.

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An Energy Transition is Already Underway

Carbon targets aren't anything new. States and local governments have set targets for reducing carbon pollution going back more than a decade.

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