The city of Phoenix’s “cool” pavement is making people hotter, something the city learned from their pilot program study with Arizona State University (ASU) — but chose to prioritize its sustainability goals to combat climate change instead.
The 2021 joint study discovered that the “cool” pavement makes people feel up to six degrees hotter: the material deflects sunlight, causing people to absorb it. The study declared the increased human discomfort a “necessary tradeoff” for reducing the temperature of city infrastructure.
The study not only reported negative physical impacts resulting from the pavement; survey respondents also relayed negative feelings about the aesthetics, safety, and durability of the pavement. Residents reported that the pavement was “blinding” due to its light color, and that the tire and oil marks stained the pavement in ugly ways. They also reported the pavement being slick, and even wearing off at a fast rate.
It appears that ASU researchers and Phoenix leaders were aware even prior to the study that the cool pavement would make people hotter. At the start of the pilot program, ASU professor David Sailor revealed that the same material was planned for use in the 2020 Summer Olympics marathon route in Japan, but that the material would likely make the runners hotter due to the solar reflection.
Despite the report indicating overall negative impacts to the human body and resident sentiments, the city decided to make the pavement program permanent. Since 2019, the city has spent over $12 million perArizona’s Family.
The city announced last month that it installed over 100 miles of the cool pavement.
🆒 NEWS: Three years after launching our Cool Pavement program, we've installed over 100 miles of cool coating across Phoenix!
This innovative coating is produced locally and is proven to reduce street surface temperatures by up to 12 degrees! 😎 pic.twitter.com/XLqoX3AkjM
While the city increases the coverage of pavement making people hotter, public health officials have been warning residents of the consequences of long-term exposure to record summer heat.
Temperatures are likely to reach record territory this weekend. Be careful out there and please practice good heat safety. #azwx#cawxpic.twitter.com/AlI3j0cfTh
In marketing their initiative, city leaders have pointed out that the pavement makes the ground 10-12 degrees cooler. While that may be true, the 2021 Phoenix-ASU report revealed that the surfaces cool by deflecting half of that heat to people.
Despite the 2021 report, city leaders claim that the material makes people feel cooler. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego claimed the pavement makes the city more “comfortable.”
Cool pavement has also presented an opportunity for city leaders to market Phoenix as innovative in terms of sustainability efforts, namely with energy usage. Gallego has cited the city’s membership with C40 Cities, a progressive climate change organization on whose steering committee Gallego sits as vice chair, as the driving force behind cool pavement.
Over the past 4 years, the most meaningful movement on climate has come from cities and states. #PHX has one of the largest cool pavement projects in the country, we lead the nation for solar installed on municipal property & we’re ensuring #RenewableEnergy is accessible for all. https://t.co/Z1tlCXcWLg
Sailor, one of the ASU researchers, projected in a 2020 interview during the ASU-Phoenix pilot program that the technology would save ratepayers up to $75 million per degree in energy costs.
Another researcher on the study, ASU professor David Hondula, was named director of the office overseeing the pavement initiative within weeks of the study’s publication.
The California-based manufacturer for the pavement material, GuardTop, opened its downtown Phoenix facility to create the product in 2017. Since 2022, after Phoenix made its pavement initiative permanent, the company has exclusively produced the material at its Phoenix facility, naming it “Phoenix Gray.” Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have purchased the cool pavement material from the company.
GuardTop’s founder and CEO, Bob Koleas, is an alumnus of the University of Arizona.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
This past Friday, Shawnna Bolick was sworn into office at the state senate. Bolick received the oath of office from her husband, Arizona State Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick.
After being installed as a state legislator, Bolick tweeted, “What a warm welcome to the State Senate! Thank you to our LD2 GOP PCs and my family who have made it possible to return to the Legislature to represent we the people. As many of my friends and supporters know, returning to politics was not on my dance card. On Thursday evening we returned from a very short trip to Prague, and I am slowly putting jet lag behind me. Thank you for all of the texts, emails, DMs, and phone calls. I am still responding to your thoughtful congratulatory notes and setting up meetings to get to work for Arizona!”
What a warm welcome to the State Senate! ☺️
Thank you to our LD2 GOP PCs and my family who have made it possible to return to the Legislature to represent we the people. 💓
As many of my friends and supporters know, returning to politics was not on my dance card. 🗽🇺🇸
— Shawnna LM Bolick (@ShawnnaLMBolick) July 23, 2023
Bolick was also joined by two sitting senators for her swearing-in ceremony: Senate Pro Tempore T.J. Shope and Majority Whip Sine Kerr. Shope tweeted, “It was an honor to have Majority Whip Sine Kerr join me as Senator Shawnna Bolick was sworn into office by her husband, Justice Clint Block! Senator Bolick will undoubtedly serve the people of LD2 with distinction and will be a wonderful additional to our Arizona Senate Republican Caucus!”
It was an honor to have Majority Whip @SineKerr join me as Sen. @ShawnnaLMBolick was sworn in to office by her husband, Justice Clint Bolick! Sen. Bolick will undoubtedly serve the people of LD2 with distinction and will be a wonderful addition to our @AZSenateGOP Caucus! #AZLeg… https://t.co/JxVsaCpSMg
Before Justice Bolick administered the oath to his wife, he said, “Sweetheart, you never cease to amaze me, and I am enormously proud of you. As you know, we’re in different branches of government; when you’re a candidate, I can’t campaign for you; I can’t endorse you. In the Legislature, I can’t give you any advice, but there are three things I can do. First of all, is to commend you for being one of the most amazing public servants I’ve ever known, and I mean that in the literal and best sense of the word. The second is I can swear you in, and the third is, after I swear you in, I can kiss you – and I don’t normally do that when I swear people in.”
Republican Representative Justin Wilmeth reacted to the moment of Bolick’s swearing in, writing, “Such an amazing video: I know people don’t wanna admit we’re actual normal people with emotions, but we are. Very touching moment here between one of my favorite couples out there. Damn proud to have Shawnna Bolick as my new state senator.”
Such an amazing video. I know people don’t wanna admit we’re actual normal people with emotions, but we are. Very touching moment here between one of my favorite couples out there! Damn proud to have @ShawnnaLMBolick as my new state senator! https://t.co/I0mMXMBKnX
— AZ State Rep. Justin Wilmeth (@JustinWilmethAZ) July 22, 2023
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A dark money, globalist climate group poised to obtain power over U.S. defense contracts has Arizona roots.
Last November, the Biden administration proposed granting decision-making power on defense contracts to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): a London, England-based environmentalist group. In mid-February, a key initiative to SBTi called the Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) Platform launched at GreenBiz 23 in Scottsdale.
According to a press release, the AIM Platform will provide net-zero carbon value chain mitigation for SBTi and the GHG Protocol. Value chain mitigation determines the greenhouse gas emissions of each aspect of a company in an effort to reduce it; SBTi is also advancing a successor of the concept, called “beyond value chain mitigation,” or BVCM.
AIM Governing Committee members are Alexia Kelly, High Tide Foundation; Devon Lake, META; Kelley Kizzier, Bezos Earth Fund (Amazon founder, executive chairman, and former CEO Jeff Bezos); Mandy Rambharos, EDF; Tim Juliani, World Wildlife Fund (WWF); Derik Broekhoff, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI); Graham Winkelman, BHP; Dan Smith, Smart Freight Center; Elena Schmidt, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB); Lisa Spetz, H&M Group; Meinrad Bürer, Louis Dreyfus Company; Peter Skovly, MAERSK; and Pierre Bloch, Sustaincert.
SBTi funders include the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, IKEA Foundation, and Laudes Foundation. The initiative is a collaboration by the Carbon Disclosure Project, World Resources Institute, and WWF, an outgrowth of the leftist dark money initiative called “We Mean Business Coalition” fronting the New Venture Fund: an arm of one of the leading leftist dark money networks, Arabella Advisors.
Washington Free Beaconreported that SBTi didn’t officially incorporate until June, though it launched in 2015. SBTi could receive around $1.2 million in annual estimated fees for their services.
The AIM Platform creators were the Gold Standard, a Switzerland-based, climate-focused finance group; Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), a Virginia-based climate policy think tank; and Neoteric Energy & Climate, a D.C.-based climate advisory firm.
The few Americans on Gold Standard’s leadership include Scott Harder, a California native and founder of the Environmental Financial Group; Kerry Constabile, a New Yorker who formerly served as a sustainability executive for Google as well as a senior officer and lead advisor for the United Nations, and also a technical advisor for SBTi; Sue Ellen Johnson, a North Carolina agriculturalist and advisor for a number of climate groups including Gold Standard; and Lawson Henderson, a Vermont-based manager of Wildlife Works Carbon and formerly a coordinator for Rainforest Alliance.
C2ES is the successor of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, led currently by Nathaniel Keohane: former President Barack Obama’s special assistant on energy and environment and formerly a senior vice president for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The former president for C2ES was the deputy administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration. C2ES and its predecessor were founded and presided over initially by Eileen Claussen, the special advisor to the president on global environmental affairs at the National Security Council and assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs to former President Bill Clinton.
Neoteric Energy & Climate was founded in January by Kim Carnahan, the current CEO, who helped lead the State Department under both Obama and Trump on finalizing the Paris Agreement and other major emissions reductions policies with the International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization. Carnahan also worked as the senior director for ENGIE Impact, a Washington-based sustainability consultancy company.
GreenBiz 23 was the latest in a series of annual events that have taken place in Arizona since at least 2014. Next year’s event, GreenBiz 24, will take place in Phoenix.
Featured speakers for this year’s event included Arizona State University (ASU) Morrison Institute Kyl Center for Water Policy directors Kathryn Sorensen and Sarah Porter.
Most of the other speakers over the years have represented the biggest companies worldwide. This year included representatives from 3M, Anheuser-Busch, Associated Press (AP News), BASF Chemicals, CEMEX, Coca-Cola, Cox Enterprises, Clif Bar, Deloitte Tax, Delta Airlines, Dollar Tree, eBay, Estée Lauder, Ford, General Mills, General Motors, Henkel, IBM, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Mars, McDonald’s, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq, National Public Radio (NPR), NCX, NextEra Energy Resources, Nike, Paramount, Procter & Gamble, Salesforce, Seventh Generation, S&P Global, Starbucks, Under Armour, United Airlines, UPS, U.S. Steel, and Wells Fargo.
The Biden administration also sent speakers: Betty Cremmins and Katy Newhouse, directors for sustainable supply chains with the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
A crowd of Tucson parents protested against a drag queen story hour hosted at Bookmans, a local bookstore chain, this month.
Bookmans hosted the event in coordination with Drag Story Hour Arizona. Event organizers withheld the exact location until the day before the event, and only released it to registered attendees.
The line wrapped all the way around the corner!
It’s clear Tucson parents are NOT on board with sexualizing children. https://t.co/OtZ6vGBA8o
The Bridge Tucson, a local multi-location church, organized the protest. Church members behind the protest noted that the drag story hour event organizers were saving preferential seating for children so that protesting adults couldn’t take all the seating.
Bookmans attempted to host another drag queen story hour back in March, but the organizers canceled due to protests.
The protest of Bookmans "Drag Story Hour" is not needed at this time because they have canceled! Great job BCC and all that took a stand. We will continue to monitor and reschedule the protest if needed. pic.twitter.com/2bc6JPoHuX
“Bookmans is committed to allowing men dressed in women’s clothing to dance and sing and read books to children while exploring sexual themes with children and providing a ‘queer’ influence in their life,” stated the Bridge Tucson. “Bookmans is committed to grooming our children and it is pure evil. It has always been society’s job to protect children, and this is one of those moments in time to take a stand. We made it very clear that if Bookmans re-scheduled their Drag Queen Story Hour, we would reschedule our protest. So it’s on!
It has been confirmed that the protest was hosted by @TheBridgeTucson
Drag Story Hour Arizona formed in 2019. In addition to Bookmans, the group collaborates with AzTYPO, Virtual Arizona Pride, Free Mom Hugs Arizona, and Phoenix Pride.
Ahead of the March story hour cancellation, Bridge Tucson members claimed retaliation. Their members reportedly emailed the bookstore to protest the event and claimed that their email addresses were then signed up for porn site email listings.
BCC: We have had a few reports of people that recently sent an email to Bookmans and then had that email address signed up for porn site emails. This seems to be only some recent emails but we wanted to warn everyone. Again, well done BCC for standing against sinful behavior. pic.twitter.com/vHAzgKBKVc
In response to the protest, State Sen. Justine Wadsack (R-LD17), commended the local parents for withstanding the temperatures that afternoon, which reached around 110 degrees. Wadsack also included an allusion to the controversial child sex trafficking awareness movie, “Sound of Freedom.”
Mama Bears & Papa Bears around the country have had ENOUGH with Drag Queen Story Hour. So much so, they’ll protest the venues in 110 degree AZ Heat!
A conservative grassroots group is warning the Arizona legislature about the westward expansion of a provider of digital mental health solutions.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Women of Action shared information about Kooth’s pending partnership with the State of California and its interest in working with the Arizona Legislature, tweeting, “the data mining of children & increase in mental health services with a decrease in parental involvement is of grave concern.”
— Arizona Women of Action (@azwomenofaction) July 19, 2023
On its website, Kooth describes its company as “pioneering innovators of digital behavioral health care, giving a range clinically proven, research evidenced therapies for dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, or what every (people) may be going through.” Kooth asserts that its services cover “over 15 million people internationally.”
In March, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) revealed that “it will launch the Behavioral Health Virtual Services Platform, a new technology-enabled services solution for all children, youth, and families in California, in January 2024. The platform is part of Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health and the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), a $4.7 billion investment in youth behavioral health.”
Governor Newsom rolled out this plan in August 2022 “to ensure all California kids, parents and communities have increased access to mental health and substance use services.” At the time, Newsom stated, “Mental and behavioral health is one of the greatest challenges of our time. As other states take away resources to support kids’ mental health, California is doubling down with the most significant overhaul of our mental health systems in state history.”
The announcement from DHCS added that it had “selected Kooth to support the delivery of equitable, appropriate, and timely behavioral health services to youth and young adults (ages 13-25).” DHCS noted, “Kooth will also integrate with other partners to provide a seamless user experience, including providing services and supports to children (ages 0-12) and their parents/caregivers.”
Kooth’s CEO, Tim Barker, said, “We’re excited to partner with DHCS and the State of California to help transform access to digital behavioral health support for youth across the state. Working together, we believe this represents a step-change in providing early and responsive access to behavioral health care to help address the growing youth mental health crisis.”
California’s selection of Kooth follows the launch of a pilot program in late 2022 in Pennsylvania, which had bipartisan support from state lawmakers. In a news article on November 2, State Senator Lisa Baker said, “This pilot project has the potential to fill some crucial gaps. I am pleased to see that several school districts in northeastern Pennsylvania will be participating. Our constituents will be encouraged to see constructive action on problem-solving that has bipartisan support.”
The piece in the Times Leader added context from Senator Baker, including that “the web-based counseling program by Kooth US was awarded a grant through the Department of Human services that enables school districts to opt into the services without cost to students, parents or the district;” and that “the grant was funded in the FY 2022-23 state budget in acknowledgement of the mental health crisis currently being faced by young people.”
Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Capital Star reported that a bipartisan coalition of legislators would be traveling to Arizona to “highlight their work with the Pennsylvania Health Department’s contract with Kooth US.” Kevin Winters, the General Manager for Kooth US stated, “The model that we are using now in Pennsylvania has the potential to break down the barrier of access to mental health, and we’re grateful for the advocacy of these legislators in funding this program for students. We’re anxious to expand the model to other states, and honored to present it to such an important audience in Arizona.”
One of the Pennsylvania legislators who came to Arizona in February, Representative Ryan Bizzarro, shared pictures of the event on his Instagram, writing, “Increasing access to mental health services for Pennsylvania students isn’t a partisan issue. In fact, Pennsylvania is the only state that was able to put partisan politics aside and work on modernizing mental health services by creating a space for digital mental health care – all while increasing access for everyone. And now, we’re helping the Arizona state legislature do the same! I’m happy to be part of this bipartisan / bicameral group of Pennsylvania legislators working to change the future of mental health care not only in our commonwealth, but across the U.S.”
While Arizona welcomed this delegation from Pennsylvania, the state legislature was also considering a bill to address the state’s mental health issues among teenagers. Republican Representative Travis Grantham sponsored HB 2635, which would have “authorized a school district governing board to develop or purchase a digital application to assist with threat assessments.” In February, the proposal passed both the House Education and Rules Committee without a single vote in opposition, yet it was held from final passage in the chamber because, in part, of concerns from grassroots groups like Arizona Women of Action.
The critique of Grantham’s bill caused him to introduce a floor amendment to his original proposal, changing the focus of the digital application to assistance with “suicide prevention and substance misuse.” The amendment also removed “the requirement that the digital application allow students to report safety issues and receive anonymous clinical support,” and it required “the digital application to provide suicide prevention and substance misuse resources to parents and, subject to parental consent, students.”
Representative Grantham explained that his amendment “put guard rails on the current bill,” and told AZ Free News that “many of his colleagues were concerned that the legislation was too broad and could invite mental health counseling that became even more damaging than the problem itself.” That bill remains on hold.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Attorney General Kris Mayes pledged to ignore the Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) recent decision in the case 303 Creative v. Elenis.
SCOTUS ruled last month that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law that would punish a Christian wedding website designer for declining to make a same-sex wedding website violated the First Amendment. The Scottsdale legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented the website designer.
The Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative reaffirms a bedrock principle: the government cannot force us to say something we don’t believe.
Equal treatment under the law requires protecting everyone’s right to free speech.
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) July 5, 2023
Colorado anti-discrimination law added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of traditional Civil Rights protections: race, religion, color, and national origin.
In a press release, Mayes encouraged individuals to continue to file complaints of discrimination concerning LGBTQ+ identity.
“Despite today’s ruling, Arizona law prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation, including discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Mayes. “If any Arizonan believes that they have been the victim of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, or ancestry in a place of public accommodation, they should file a complaint with my office. I will continue to enforce Arizona’s public accommodation law to its fullest extent.”
The Arizona Civil Rights Act (ACRA) doesn’t list either sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes. ACRA only recognizes race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, and genetic testing results as protected classes.
Mayes’ interpretation of ACRA could come from the arguments presented by former attorney general Mark Brnovich. Mayes’ predecessor interpreted anti-discrimination protections to include both sexual orientation and gender identity in a 2020 filing for Bruer v. State of Arizona. His filing followed the Bostock v. Clayton County decision prohibiting employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
At the time, Brnovich stated that the state legislature would have to amend the Arizona Civil Rights Act to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity if they disagreed with his interpretation.
Also in her press release, Mayes called the SCOTUS majority “woefully misguided.” Mayes added that she agreed with Justice Sonya Sotomayor’s dissent.
“Today, a woefully misguided majority of the United States Supreme Court has decided that businesses open to the public may, in certain circumstances, discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans,” stated Mayes.
Today, a woefully misguided majority of the United States Supreme Court has decided that businesses open to the public may, in certain circumstances, discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans.
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) June 30, 2023
Sotomayor’s dissent argued that the wedding website designer wasn’t protected by the First Amendment because her refusal to validate a same-sex wedding should be considered an act, not protected speech. Sotomayor further argued that individuals should be compelled to act contrary to their personal beliefs if they’re wishing to participate in the economy at all.
“[I]f a business chooses to profit from the public market, which is established and maintained by the state, the state may require the business to abide by a legal norm of nondiscrimination,” stated Sotomayor.
In her first executive order issued in January, Gov. Katie Hobbs added gender identity to the list of anti-discrimination protections concerning state employment and contracts. Hobbs expanded on the anti-discrimination precedent of her Democratic female predecessor, Janet Napolitano, who issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
