by AZ Free Enterprise Club | Feb 8, 2025 | Opinion
By the Arizona Free Enterprise Club |
President Trump’s historic victory in the November election gave him a clear mandate from the American people. And so far, he hasn’t wasted any time getting to work. In his first month back in office, Trump signed 45 Executive Orders (EO) in an effort to put America first and undo much of the damage created by the Biden administration. And that’s especially true with his executive actions to unleash American energy.
Ending the Net Zero Climate Cult Fantasy
For four years under President Biden, the American people were forced to endure an administration that was hellbent on pursuing a net zero agenda. Across the country, they pushed these radical and costly climate action plans to fundamentally transform and restrict the energy options available to consumers. Along with this came calls from the Left to ban gas stoves, gas cars, gas-powered lawn equipment, and hundreds of other draconian ideas to limit the freedom of the American people.
If the high cost of these plans wasn’t enough, they have also proven to be unreliable. States and countries that have committed to energy sources like solar and wind as part of this net zero fantasy have experienced rolling blackouts, continually demand that their customers use less, and eventually have to make haste to open reliable sources of generation they had closed down. Isn’t that right, California?
But Trump’s Executive Order 14154 unleashes fossil fuel production and use in America while unwinding much of the damage caused by the Biden administration…
>>> CONTINUE READING >>>
by Matthew Holloway | Jan 26, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
In a 5-2 vote last week, the Fountain Hills Town Council rejected the ‘Vision Zero Road Diet Plan,’ to be initiated through a Federal FY 2024 SS4A Grant Program applied for under former Mayor Ginny Dickey.
The grant is part of the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” despite its wide rejection by all but two House Republicans and a majority of GOP Senators. The grant would have launched a two-year long project with $240,000 in federal funds matched with $60,000 from the town, bringing the total taxpayer cost to $300,000, according to documentation prepared by Town Engineer David Janover.
The summary of the plan explains: “This grant aligns with the Town’s commitment to Vision Zero principles, aiming to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries while fostering safer, more accessible transportation infrastructure. Additionally, the grant is in direct accord with the Town’s 2022 Strategic Plan which notes a priority of ‘improving the public health, well-being, and safety of our town.’”
The plan purported to:
- Identify areas for infrastructure improvements to enhance safety for all users.
- Develop speed management strategies in high-risk areas.
- Engage residents through public outreach to reflect community needs.
- Address pedestrian accessibility and emergency route improvements.
- Provide a framework for future safety improvements and grant applications.
Councilman Allen Skillicorn, joined by fellow councilors Gayle Earle, Rick Watts, Vice Mayor Hannah Toth, and Mayor Gerry Friedel, voted to reject the Resolution citing the plan’s inclusion of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies.
Councilwoman Earle asked pointedly during the Jan. 21st meeting, “How is this plan racially equitable? Climate change, how does that relate to streets?”
As noted by Earle, the text of the grant agreement included a page-and-a-half-long commitment to “Improve Racial Equity and Reduce Barriers to Opportunity,” in which the town provided a “supporting narrative.” It stated, “The Town of Fountain Hills is committed to addressing equity considerations as part of its Comprehensive Safety Action Plan under the SS4A grant. While Fountain Hills is an affluent community, its neighboring community, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, represents an underserved population. Recognizing the proximity and interconnectedness of these communities, the Town will actively engage with representatives from the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation to gather input on how Fountain Hills’ street and walking networks can better serve all users and improve regional equity.”
“Efforts will include:
- Targeted Outreach: Collaborating with leaders and residents of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation to understand how Fountain Hills’ transportation infrastructure impacts their access to opportunities and regional connections.
- Community Engagement Workshops: Hosting inclusive sessions to gather feedback on specific barriers to safe walking, biking, and driving within Fountain Hills for residents traveling from or to the Nation.
- Equity-Focused Improvements: Using feedback to identify opportunities for enhancing transportation safety and accessibility in Fountain Hills, such as improved pedestrian crossings, better wayfinding, and multimodal infrastructure.
This approach ensures the Town of Fountain Hills addresses equity and reduces barriers to opportunity within its jurisdiction while fostering a collaborative relationship with its neighboring community. By integrating these considerations into the Safety Action Plan, the Town demonstrates its commitment to creating a more inclusive and accessible environment for all.”
Skillicorn condemned the plan saying, “This plan includes a commitment to gender equity, why? This plan mentions greenhouse gases seven times, mentions climate change nine times, mentions environmental justice thirteen times, and mentions equity twenty times. Our town and our nation have rejected wokeness and DEI. Today is a new era of common sense. This is not for our town.”
As referred to by Skillicorn, the grant agreement included a commitment to “prioritized climate change resilience and environmental justice.” It stated, “To address environmental justice, we have engaged with local communities, including those historically affected by environmental disparities, to understand their specific needs and concerns. This engagement informs our plan to incorporate shaded pathways, safe pedestrian areas, and accessible emergency routes, ensuring equitable access to cooler, walkable areas that mitigate urban heat island effects. Together, these actions reflect our commitment to climate adaptation and environmental justice, enhancing the well-being and resilience of all residents.”
Skillicorn followed with a motion to deny what he referred to in a statement to AZ Free News as the “Woke DEI Vision Zero Road Diet Plan.” Vice Mayor Hannah Toth seconded the motion observing, “Of course we want zero pedestrian injuries. My job is to find hidden meanings, often these are not so great in practice. Fifteen Minute Cities sound great but are not. Vision Zero is something I do not feel comfortable inviting into our town.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Nov 6, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Top financial officers from 17 states, 13 State Treasurers, one Commissioner of Revenue, and three state auditors, came together to issue a firm rebuke to members of Congress calling upon Fortune 1000 companies to “reaffirm their commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).”
The letter, signed by Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee, stated, “We the undersigned are state financial officials responsible for state investment vehicles that hold ownership positions in your companies. We write concerning recent calls from Congressional members that your companies reaffirm their commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). They commend DEI to you, claiming it is ‘good for business’ and ‘benefits employees, customers, and the bottom line.’ Significant evidence is mounting that precisely the opposite is true.”
Yee and her colleagues wrote in response to entreaties sent by a coalition of Democrat politicians, who wrote to the same firms in support of the radical-left DEI agenda. The Democrat coalition made unfounded claims that DEI programs create “a culture of equality” that “allows your companies to remain competitive,” as reported by the Daily Wire.
Jeremy Tedesco, Alliance Defending Freedom SVP of Corporate Engagement told the outlet:
“The divisive and discriminatory ideology at the root of DEI has caused some of our country’s most prominent companies, like Home Depot, Lowes, Ford, and Toyota, to pull back on their DEI programs. We should celebrate that and call on other companies to follow their lead. Sadly, some members of Congress have instead responded by urging companies to reaffirm their DEI commitments. Businesses should listen to their employees, customers, and shareholders, rather than politicians, and jettison DEI once and for all.”
The letter from the State Officers cites scholarly studies from Econ Journal Watch and Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance that sharply disprove the Democrats’ claims that corporate DEI efforts improve bottom line earnings and debunk the McKinsey studies upon which the agenda is based. They state, “The authors of the Econ Journal Watch article reported that they were ‘unable to quasireplicate’ the McKinsey studies’ results and admonished that ‘they should not be relied on to support the view that US publicly traded firms can expect to deliver improved financial performance if they increase the racial/ethnic diversity of their executives.’”
The state officials highlighted key takeaways from a recent New York Times article for the industry leaders to consider when addressing the continuation of the controversial DEI measures: University student reactions and the birth of a “grievance culture,” and the delivery of a divisive culture as opposed to the goal of inclusivity. In a study that examined the University of Michigan’s DEI program as an exemplar of these policies, the author found in part:
“On campus, I met students with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. Not one expressed any particular enthusiasm for Michigan’s D.E.I. initiative. Where some found it shallow, others found it stifling. They rolled their eyes at the profusion of course offerings that revolve around identity and oppression, the D.E.I.-themed emails they frequently received but rarely read.”
The author noted, “Michigan’s D.E.I. efforts have created a powerful conceptual framework for student and faculty grievances — and formidable bureaucratic mechanisms to pursue them. Everyday campus complaints and academic disagreements, professors and students told me, were now cast as crises of inclusion and harm, each demanding some further administrative intervention or expansion.”
“Michigan’s own data suggests that in striving to become more diverse and equitable, the school has also become less inclusive: In a survey released in late 2022, students and faculty members reported a less positive campus climate than at the program’s start and less of a sense of belonging. Students were less likely to interact with people of a different race or religion or with different politics — the exact kind of engagement D.E.I. programs, in theory, are meant to foster.”
In the letter, the financial experts concluded that employees have widely expressed the same views of DEI programs with a Freedom at Work Survey conducted by Ipsos and released by Viewpoint Diversity Score, finding that 40% of respondents said the policies divide rather than unite the workplace. They added that legal exposure is also possible as Chief Justice Roberts observed, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Adding that the race-based theories and practices baked-into DEI programs “fly in the face of our colorblind Constitution and our Nation’s equality ideal.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Sep 10, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The Queen Creek Town Council unanimously passed Resolution #1611-24 this week in a bid to push back on ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ or ‘DEI’ practices, which serve to discriminate against people based upon race and gender.
As reported by The Heritage Foundation, the council voted Wednesday on the new ordinance that will prohibit town tax dollars from being spent on any policies advancing the inherently discriminatory practices.
Queen Creek Councilman Travis Padilla said, “In Queen Creek, we want to focus on things that unite us like individual success and achievement, not things that divide us like political ideology.” He observed at the council meeting that the new ordinance will allow the city’s officials to target equal opportunities rather than artificially constructed equal outcomes.
In the text of the revised ordinance, the town states, “It is the policy of the Town Council that all recruitment and selection decisions for Town employment are based on merit.” The new law adds to the Equal Opportunity Employment ordinance that it is “the Town’s intention to (…) Not compel an applicant or employee to endorse any statement that provides preferential treatment to or discriminating against any individual as a condition of hire, promotion or transfer,” and “Not require nor support any affirmative action policies or practices.”
The new ordinance further goes on to prohibit the central tenets of DEI, “Training programs, workshops, and educational materials that are specific to and explicitly promote (…)
- Any form of racial or gender superiority or inferiority.
- Assigning guilt, blame, or responsibility to individuals based on their race or gender, such as unconscious bias, cultural appropriation, micro aggressions, or any related concepts.
- Any content that promotes division or animosity among employees based on race, color, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, identity, or any other characteristic.”
Although the town “acknowledges that there will be external training and education classes that may address prohibited content topics as part of an overall conference, workshop or college level course,” the policy makes clear that ”the Town will refrain from conducting internal classes or workshops that are exclusively focused on those specific topics.”
The revision of the city’s personnel policy also included updates to the recruitment and selection process to make them explicitly “merit-based.”
As noted by Austin VanDerHeyden, the Director of Municipal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute, the development in Queen Creek comes only a few months after Goldwater exposed the Town of Gilbert for its mandated DEI training for all new hires, occurring unbeknownst to citizens and town councilmembers alike.
VanDerHeyden observed in a release from the Goldwater Institute, “Queen Creek stands in stark contrast to the localities like Gilbert who have fully embraced divisive and dangerous ideologies on the taxpayers’ dime.”
He added that the policy enacted by Queen Creek is “a hallmark of Goldwater’s work to dismantle DEI across the country,” observing that diversity statements along these lines have been used as litmus tests in other towns “for ideological alignment, screening out candidates who do not adhere to specific progressive ideologies.”
He concluded, “It’s welcome news that Queen Creek has decided to stand apart among Arizona municipalities in promoting merit-based hiring practices, while keeping divisive and corrosive DEI policies and trainings out of the town. This is a huge win for the residents of the town, who can now be confident that their elected officials and town staff are focusing on actual town business, not obsessing about identity politics like so many of their neighboring communities have been doing for far too long.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Sep 6, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Congressmen Eli Crane (R-AZ) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) have issued a letter directed to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan. The letter called upon them both to answer for the prioritization of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training over other considerations by the Coast Guard. The Congressmen are demanding the two address the impact of this prioritized training on the operational readiness of the Guard.
As noted in a press release from Rep. Crane, “USCG has reported that it is about 4,800 members short and has missed its recruiting targets for the past four fiscal years, leading to the decommissioning and shorter lifecycle of USCG ships and increased burden on USCG members.”
The Arizona Congressman further observed, “At the same time, the USCG is carrying out indoctrination training, including Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) inclusivity training, which service members believe to be extraneous to mission-critical tasks.”
In April, the U.S. Naval Institute wrote that the Coast Guard, being 2,500 personnel under recruiting goals, has launched a “comprehensive talent realignment initiative that sought to address personnel shortages,” citing a top personnel officer.
In November 2023, Fagan was forced to acknowledge the then-shortfall of 3,500 recruits as it sidelined 10 Coast Guard Cutters and 29 stations according to Forbes.
The outlet reported, “Three east-coast based Reliance-class cutters, the USCGC Confidence (WMEC-619), the USCGC Dauntless(WMEC-624) and the USCGC Dependable (WMEC-626), will each enter layup in mid 2024, becoming little more than in-reserve ‘parts-barns’ for active, in-service cutters. Add in the March retirement of the Decisive (ex-WMEC-629) with the long-planned retirement of the USCGC Steadfast (WMEC-623) later this year, and the loss of Coast Guard cutter capability becomes quite significant.”
In a post to X, Gaetz explained, “The U.S. Coast Guard is prioritizing indoctrination training over addressing its staffing shortages and military readiness. Today, I sent a letter with @RepEliCrane to DHS @SecMayorkas and USCG Commandant Linda Fagan to demand answers on why the USCG is focusing on training for Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity inclusivity instead of improving manning issues, meeting recruiting goals, and recommissioning ships.”
In the text of the letter, Crane and Gaetz tell Mayorkas and Fagan, “We have heard from service members concerned with trainings and events they believe to be extraneous to mission- critical tasks, specifically Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) inclusivity training programs, including the attached examples of official USCG announcements encouraging service member participation in Transgender Shipmates Inclusion Training.”
Among the Congressmen’s inquiries, they are demanding the Coast Guard and DHS answer: “How much of the USCG’s budget has been spent on developing and carrying out SOGI inclusivity trainings and events within the last three fiscal years?” They are also demanding a citation of the statutory authority which DHS and the USCG are using to justify said training and whether these trainings are taking place during work hours or after duty hours. Finally, they ask, “Do USCG personnel who attend SOGI inclusivity training events receive promotion points or recognition?”
The two conclude definitively, “We ask you to end SOGI inclusivity training programs within the USCG and focus on mission-critical operations.”
As noted by Citizen Free Press, Crane has been questioning the effectiveness of Coast Guard recruiting since at least November 2023 when he challenged Coast Guard Vice Admiral Peter Gautier that the real cause of the decline could be “wokeness and drag shows on base.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
