A non-profit research and advocacy group has spun off its environmental section to concentrate on consumer protection and energy-efficiency issues.
Environment Arizona was split from the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) in January.
“We are focused… on taking care of air quality and water quality and focusing on open space,” said Erik Magnuson, Environment Arizona’s program associate.
Environment Arizona jumped into the public arena with a January news conference pushing for solar-energy systems to be placed on 250,000 homes by 2015.
The group also wants the Legislature to do more to promote solar energy. That includes legislation that would make it more difficult for homeowners’ associations to bar residents from putting a solar-power system on their homes.
One such measure is H2593, sponsored by Rep. Chad Campbell, D-14.
On the issue of open space, Magnuson said Environment Arizona would like to continue efforts to set aside more state trust land for conservation, picking up the pieces in the wake of Prop. 106’s defeat in November. The measure would have set aside for conservation nearly 700,000 acres of state trust land.
It was backed by the Nature Conservancy’s Arizona chapter.
“We’re working with the preservation community to decide where to go to now,” Magnuson said. “It’s part of our overall mission to hold onto open spaces. It’s what makes the quality of life in Arizona so good.”
Creating a separate environmental organization will give the public a clearer picture of what PIRG itself does, said PIRG executive director Diane Brown.
“Most people perceived us as an environmental group and didn’t recognize most of the work we did to protect consumers,” Brown said.
PIRG, for example, has lobbied for legislation to cap interest on payday loans. In addition, it backed legislation to give consumers the right to bar credit-reporting agencies from releasing their credit information without permission. The idea is to prevent credit information from getting into the wrong hands. Identity thieves use credit information to obtain bogus credit cards and get jobs with fake documents.
Bills to allow credit-reporting freezes are working their way through the House (H2446) and Senate (S1345).
Some of PIRG’s work will dovetail with Environment Arizona, including PIRG’s lobbying efforts to prevent development in rural areas from outstripping water supplies. PIRG is also promoting energy efficiency.
PIRG and Environment Arizona have separate governing boards, and each raise funds through contributions and foundation grants.
Both are headquartered in Phoenix and remain affiliated with the U.S. PIRG in Washington, D.C.