W
hen my long-time friend and colleague, Bob Krell, the Publisher of
this magazine asked me to write a
monthly column, I got really excited. When he said I could write
about whatever I felt was timely and interesting
to me, my heart did a little dance!
I've lived in Arizona for the past 15+ years. That
almost makes me a local by Arizona standards.
About ten years ago, I came to the hard realization that if you really want to affect positive
change, you need to become involved (or at
least have a firm understanding) of politics.
Arizona is nationally known for its extreme politics, giving daily fodder to the likes of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. This doesn't necessarily make me proud, but it does make me more
determined to stick around and help fight the
good fight here. I will also point out that contrary
to popular belief we're not all crazy I can assure
you!
Having a background in indoor air and environmental quality, I often view Arizona as a petri
dish for bad legislation. It reminds me of when I'd
have leftover agar plates and I would have my
kids cough onto them so we could watch what
fuzzy, green things might stick and grow. I often
joke that bad bills are like zombies here – you kill
them, and they just keep coming back to life year
after year after year after year after… You get the
point.
Our 2014 Legislative Session is about to begin.
Our elected officials have been busy drafting
bills and having meetings to weigh the popularity. Many will go nowhere. Others will push on.
Some good, some bad, some boring, some sad.
(If you're a 70's kid like me, maybe you remember Schoolhouse Rock's "I'm Just a Bill." http://
youtu.be/tyeJ55o3El0) Do they even still teach
that stuff anymore? For some reason I fear not.
So what does this have to do with sustainability?
Everything!
Healthy Indoors
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