This is an interview I did and it may or may not be published in the AZ Business Magazine November Issue. Please forward this on to your local leadership. by Melisa Camp, LEED AP-Homes
- What are the economic factors holding Arizona back from establishing a statewide sustainability agenda?
One large roadblock is the fact that large wealthy corporations tend to directly and indirectly control much of the decision making at our government level. Nature has very limited rights in our capitalistic economy. We allow big businesses to dominate the way we live and nature needs to be legally recognized for all the things it gives us for free that we seem to be destroying.
- In your opinion, what is the first step in establishing a statewide sustainability agenda and how does Arizona take that first step?
Start with implementing a carbon footprint tax and make companies that adversely affect nature pay for the damage they are doing to our shared resources. Make it so that is costs more to do business not to be green and sustainable.
- If you were pitching the value of a statewide sustainability agenda to a room filled with Arizona’s most influential CEOs, what would you say to them?
Invest in nature. It is not replaceable and you can't run your company if the Earth is no longer a place for human life. Spend more now to save more over the long run; envision the bigger picture.
- In your opinion, what would a statewide sustainability agenda that balances environmental quality with economic vitality mean for Arizona?
If we could balance protection of nature with making money it would mean that we are smarter leaders who are willing to work together for a common goal and we could set a precedent for other States to keep up with our progress.
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