Tucson Is Heading Down the Path of Other Failing Leftist Cities with Its Climate Action Plan

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, multiple government officials seized the opportunity to grab more power. Perhaps chief among them were the Tucson city council and Mayor Regina Romero, who exploited the moment by declaring a “climate emergency.” Now, the city of Tucson has finalized its plan to solve this “climate emergency”—to the tune of an estimated $326 million. But it’s not just the cost that should concern you.

Tucson’s Climate Action Plan, titled “Tucson Resilient Together,” is ripe with Green New Deal mandates that are aimed at forcing citizens out of their cars, controlling their lives, and destroying the community. By 2050, they plan to force 40% of all people living in Tucson to commute by walking, cycling, taking public transportation, or “rolling” (whatever that means). And that’s just the start.

They actually spell out as part of their strategy that around 25% of people will be walking as their form of transportation by 2050. This is Tucson, Arizona, right? Have these people lived here during any of our summers? Who in their right mind would want to walk (or even cycle or “roll”) as a regular form of transportation when it’s 110 degrees outside?

But maybe they think they can force this to happen with another one of their strategies: putting people on road diets (which, by the way, was recently approved in a Scottsdale City Council meeting). In case you’re not familiar with this approach, road diets reduce the number of travel lanes and the width of the road to make room for other modes of transportation like bike lanes. They have been used in failed leftist cities like Portland, which should tell you all you need to know. And as you probably guessed by now, they will only increase traffic congestion.

Ah…but don’t worry dear citizen. All of this is done with your health and wellbeing in mind. After all, according to Tucson’s plan, you’re just a fat slob who drives too much, which has been resulting in higher absenteeism and loss of productivity. So, your government overlords are going to take care of you by forcing you out of your car and making you walk 150 minutes per week.

But for those who don’t plan on walking, be sure to send Mayor Romero and the Tucson city council a thank you note because they haven’t forgotten about you. As you should probably know by now, no “climate change plan” is complete without investing even more in public transportation. And Tucson has really outdone themselves this time. The massive increase in public transit will include hiring 900 people EACH YEAR to drive all of the buses for a total of 27,000 new full-time transit employees.

Currently, Tucson has a total of 420 bus drivers for their entire system. This increase would make the Tucson Transit Department the largest employer in Pima County. Given the fact that recent public transit reports indicate a significant decline in ridership since the COVID pandemic, this an absolutely absurd investment. And as crazy as all of this seems, the impact can’t be understated: this is now the governing planning document for the 2nd largest city in Arizona, where city staff will be working around the clock to implement their dream of a 15-minute city where cars will be phased out and everything you need will supposedly be available by foot, bike, or public transit. It’s obvious that they hate where we live and how we get around, and this is their solution. But just like with so many of these climate policies, don’t expect politicians or government bureaucrats to be doing any of this. They just want to force it on all of us regular folks.

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This article was published by AZ Free and is reproduced with permission.